Chapter 9: Ashan Arc part 2

Once they fell asleep, Lyra turned over her side to look at her lover. She spectated him doing something within the system, which she couldn't see. She sighed somberly, then clenched her hands into fists. Somehow she forgot Akros' biggest pet peeve, belittling oneself. He tolerated zero negative words anyone said about themselves, seemingly very upset to hear any of the girls think poorly of themselves. Even though he was an existence beyond them, he cared for them more than words could describe.

Lyra had a system with all of the same functions as his, but she was weaker and less experienced with real life. The 50 years she spent in Vrathe helped with this somewhat, but he was still far more knowledgeable about people while her knowledge covered most everything else. Even though she fought as part of his squadron, she felt that she was without purpose. 

Unbeknownst to her, she was actually extremely precious to Akros mentally and emotionally. He was a demon in mind and body, but fragments of his humane emotions lingered. Love was one of those emotions. Demons typically had no idea what love was, nor did they care for it. Lilith had surprised him with her maternal love, and later Pheom came to him out of longing. Akros was dependent on the company of his companions and their affection. He had grown used to it, and it made him stronger as a person and as a demon. He knew now what it meant to protect something other than himself. This emotional growth allowed him to break through to Super Saiyan.

While Lyra sulked, Akros was Modifying his armor in the Modify tab of the system. He had removed the arm sections, and now removed the morphing capability after making sure Crafanc was in the sword form. He learned that he could command the weapon to morph while it was in his inventory, but that was irrelevant now. Due to the property exchange law of the system, he had to replaced the morphing property with another property or buff an existing one.

Crafanc, Claw of Avarice

+750 ATK

Greed: Absorbs the life force of those it damages. Life force stolen is then transferred to wielder. Uneffective against undead.

Energy Stealer: Absorbs the stamina of those it damages. Stamina stolen is then transferred to wielder. Uneffective against undead.

God Killer: Damage dealt to deities, gods, demigods, and immortal beings is quadrupled. Grants the wearer the ability to slay immortal beings.

Infinite Duress: Increases magic energy recovery speed tenfold. Active when equipped.

Angel Slayer: Deals 50% bonus damage to angels and other heavenly beings. 

Akros was pleased with this result. Now he could wield Crafanc, the overpowered sword without having to worry about his left arm being uncovered. With this done, switched tabs to Create, and imagined two vambraces. They were made of magnate ruby and black diamond, and were symmetrical. The magnate ruby sections were on the inside of his arms, including his palms. Black diamond surrounded the outer sections and his fingertips, ending in claws shaped like his very own. 

Abyss Gem Vambraces

+1,140 DEF

+735 ATK

-50 SPD

Black Diamond: Dark magic is amplified by 600%.

Magnate Ruby: Gravity magic is amplified by 500%.

DEAR LORD!!!!

Akros' eyes bulged out of his skull as he read the description of his newest creation. He hadn't added any properties manually, nor he did have to fabricate any material. He used up most of both resources in his inventory, leaving small pieces of the minerals. Even knowing that, the cost of the vambraces being a mere 500 souls to put together still seemed impossible. The SPD debuff was negligible before the DEF buff.

One of the strongest materials in the Abyss, Lye said. Will boost my magic, she said. 'Boost' is an understatement. With this power, I can probably attempt my promotion to demon lord, but this world's heaven may be strong. I should probably ask my mother for a specifically weak world, and even then who knows what struggles await. But at the same time... stronger heaven means stronger angels. Corrupting stronger angels to have them join my ranks is dangerous, but I haven't been in a life and death situation in too long. I could possibly get a six-winged angel if I play it right. Angel mouths feel so good... no, now isn't the time to do so. I believe I am currently participating in the Wars of Fire, where us demons are up against every other faction of this world. That includes angels. It'd be safer to wear down their numbers before trying to promote. 

Akros set those thoughts aside for the future, and refocused his attention to his vambraces, thinking of what to add to them. 

Abyss Gem Vambraces

+1,140 DEF

+735 ATK

-50 SPD

Black Diamond: Dark magic is amplified by 600%.

Magnate Ruby: Gravity magic is amplified by 500%.

Holy Resist: Damage from holy weapons and magic reduced by 75%.

Immortal: Armor cannot break permanently. Once broken, it will regenerate at the cost of mana. If completely destroyed, it will be sent to the inventory and will regenerate there instead.

Akros didn't go overboard, wanting to conserve souls. This wasn't the only part of his armor that he would change. He spent 5,000 souls adding those two attributes, reducing his average-grade soul supply to 264,201. Satisfied with the vambraces, he then went back to his Imperial Gold armor. 

He removed the tail armor, separating the segments of Imperial Gold. He used Create to put together a new layer of armor for his tail out of demon pearl. The largest piece that covered his V shaped tail blade was made of his remaining magnate ruby. He often used his tail to cast Abyssal Grasp magic when his hands were full, typically during fivesomes. 

Abyssal Gem Segment Armor

+80/400 DEF

Demon Pearl: Increase magic output by 115%, and mana recovery by 600%.

Magnate Ruby: Gravity magic is amplified by 65%. 

Wowza. I should be using demon pearl more, I still have literal tons of it left. However, it clearly isn't as durable. The 80/400 must be comparing the DEF buff of demon pearl to magnate ruby, I'm not surprised the ruby does more for me. That shit is super dense. Now, let's add Immortal.

Abyssal Gem Segment Armor

+80/400 DEF

Demon Pearl: Increase magic output by 115%, and mana recovery by 600%.

Magnate Ruby: Gravity magic is amplified by 65%.

Immortal: Armor cannot break permanently. Once broken, it will regenerate at the cost of mana. If completely destroyed, it will be sent to the inventory and will regenerate there instead.

Black Pearl: Demon pearl of this armor is colored black.

Akros knew demons didn't wear white, so he dyed the demon pearl of his tail armor. It also made it match better with his vambraces. Dying the material only cost ten souls on top of the price of Immortal, which was 500 souls. Immortal's price varied on the type of material. With his vambraces, it cost around 2,000 due to the high quality material used. 

While he trusted Imperial Gold to protect his body, it was too flashy and uncharacteristic for a demon of the Abyss. Gold was usually worn by angels and their magic tended to be of the same color. He dyed the rest of his Imperial Gold armor black as well, besides the helmet. Because he was directly changing the pigments of the ore, the coloring would not wash off or evaporate. The golden helmet was set to the side with the gold tail plates. Akros had a new helmet he wanted to create.

Black Diamond Mask

+450 DEF

Black Diamond: Dark magic is amplified by 50%.

Announce: Projects wearer's voice via mindlink. 

Immortal: Armor cannot break permanently. Once broken, it will regenerate at the cost of mana. If completely destroyed, it will be sent to the inventory and will regenerate there instead.

Relic of Haki: Wearer may use Observation and Armament Haki continuously without fatigue or overload of information. 

Hypersonic Howl: Wearer may broadcast voice at 100000% volume for brief periods of time upon mental command. Wearer's hearing will be nullified when activated.

Another 30,000 souls left Akros inventory with the creation of his new helm. It was a glittering black diamond covering over his entire head. It held his jaw shut as it covered his mandible entirely, but stopped at his neck. The price of Relic of Haki was a whopping 15,000 souls, but he required it. His Armament Haki resisted holy damage, and his Observation Haki was highly important for sensing and dodging danger at medium-close range. His mask covered his face entirely, the front of it a flat surface with zero openings. 

With this mask created, Akros was very content with his soul purchases. He deemed he had buffed himself up enough for now, and would save his remaining 233,691 average-grade souls for emergency or his companions. He yawned unceremoniously, his mental fatigue starting to take affect. He shot a glance at Lyra curiously, feeling her gaze on his body. She was totally unfocused, not noticing his stare.

"Uh... Lye? Lyyyyyyyyyye?" Akros called out to her in a singsong voice, breaking her out of her dazed state. She rubbed her eyes, then looked at him reluctantly.

"W-what is it? I thought you were mad at me..." Lyra mumbled, averting her gaze after a few seconds of eye contact. Her cheeks were a tinge gold and she was fiddling with her fingers. Akros' mind turned a little dirty at the sight.

"Lye, I wasn't angry," Akros snorted as if the idea was foolish. "I simply don't appreciate you degrading yourself like that. There's only one kind of degradation I tolerate..."

He flicked a hand at her body, relieving her of the world's gravity and replacing it with his own. Lyra was pulled to him through the air until she hovered over his lap. Her face flushed gold when she realized what his intentions were. 

"W-wait, not in public!" Lyra protested weakly, looking around in a frantic manner. She covered her pubic area in embarrassment while Akros chuckled, lowering her onto his clothed penis. 

"Why not? They're banging elves in orgies over there. Why I can't I get a ride from my beloved fallen angel?" Akros said huskily, rubbing her thighs and hips. Lyra tried to defend her case, but could only sputter nonsense. His touch was far too distracting to think about much else. 

"Uhn, fine! Just- AH!" Lyra yelped in response to him smacking her glutes. She grit her teeth with humiliated eyes and glared at him. "You ass! They're sleeping right there!" 

"Then don't scream? Or you can give me fellatio, that isn't too loud..." Akros grinned lustfully, unequipping the fabric covering his lower body. His little brother sprang up with such force it wedged into Lyra's buttcheeks. "Either way, I want to celebrate this soul harvest with you, Lye. What better way than this?"

"Grrrr..." Lyra growled. She then sent her angelic clothing to her own inventory, and sighed. She gave him a guilty smile. "Can you eat me out first?"

Uriel and Hilda didn't stay asleep for too long. They joined in on partaking of Akros' rod while taking turns having their southern cavities being cleaned by his long purple tongue. They broke the elven couch, so Akros used Abyssal Grasp magic to keep them afloat during the intensive oral sex. After watching Lilith work, Hilda and Uriel loved to eat him out and slobber on his balls while Lyra or Ulvone swallowed his shaft. Because the high-rank demoness was absent from the scene, Lyra happily sucked on him. Her tight throat and powerful contractive muscles made the sensation unbearable. He lost count of how many loads he delivered down her and the other twos' esophagi. 

What he didn't realize at this time was the trio's cunning. They were well aware of the depravity within his semen. How could they resist digesting it when it made them more powerful, along with tasting sweet? While they would've swallowed the black viscous fluid even without its properties, the depravity only made it more irresistable. Their power would continue to increase as long as they were allowed to please their shared object of love and lust. 

The scene didn't go unnoticed by the demons further away. One particular high-rank demon, a trickery demon representing a clown of sorts, came to ask Akros how he wished to proceed into the elf territory. Even though many demons were still partaking of elf women, he did not anticipate the sloppy magical foursome on the ground. 

This demon spread word to other high-rank demons, who stopped what they were doing to see this ridiculous scene. Yet sure enough, three fallen angels were on a single high-rank demon, the one who ruled over them all. Akros didn't fail to notice their peeping, his eyes flashing with purple energy as he spotted them among some wreckage. The demons' hearts skipped a beat. Fortunately for them, Akros was too immersed in the foursome to do much but give them a warning glare. The demons took the hint and left him to do his own maidens.

Akros lasted longer than the fallen angel trio, and was still full of energy by the time they were exhausted. Each of them swallowed 4 loads before they collapsed. Akros removed the sweat, semen, and orgasmic fluid from all four bodies present. Then he discarded them through the system, causing the congregation of liquids to splatter on the ground a few feet away. Akros burned it with shadowflame before dressing himself. 

He created three large orbs of Dark Restoring, one with each hand and his tail. He granted one ball of depraved restoring energy to each of the sleeping women, causing them to wake as they regained their lost stamina. Uriel and Hilda redressed while Lyra simply slapped her clothes and armor on with her system's help. Akros took out a dwarven couch, one made for a large group. He sat next to Lyra, holding hands with her as she leaned against his larger frame.

"Thanks, babe. Your cum is such a treat," Lyra's speech degenerated quite a bit due to her post-orgasmic mental state. "Along with your magic. Makes rough sex viable."

"Uh, sure," Akros didn't know what to think about that statement. Now that his mind was clear, he used Haki to detect Ulvone at the other 7 demons. Once he sensed that they were nearing his location, he was content. "Lye?"

"Hm?"

"C'mere," Akros pulled her by the chin for a quick kiss, but Lyra disagreed silently. She grabbed the sides of his head and held his lips hostage for another half minute before letting go.

"Mmm... sorry, I got carried away," Lyra said unapologetically, licking her lips. 

Akros' eye twitched, but before he could retort Uriel crawled onto his lap and Hilda came up to his other side. Both had puckered lips, as if expecting kisses as well. He rolled his eyes, but in the end they got what they wanted. An envious cry sounded from afar during the make out session.

"Hey! No fair!" Ulvone, returning with the 7 middle-rank demons, was outraged. She launched herself forward with a stone pillar that shot from the ground underneath her owl-like feet. With surprised yelps, the other demons stopped in their tracks at the sight. The three fallen angels hastily backed away from Akros, who was quite unamused. 

He lifted one finger that glowed bright red, and Ulvone's momentum died out instantly. She glided in the air weightlessly and slowly. She saw his deadpan and realized he wasn't impressed, and sighed helplessly. "Aww. I just wanted a kiss from my dear master."

"Uh huh. What did we learn?" Akros snarked, drawing her nearer with a curl of his finger. 

"Not to be jealous and get impatient?" Ulvone said as if it was a question. Her body stopped moving a foot from Akros, her feet touching the ground softly. Akros growled and smacked her head with his tail, making her cry out in pain and shock. "Ow! Master?!"

"What did you think you were doing? Did you think gaining that much momentum and crashing down on me would make you deserving of anything?" Disappointed and miffed, Akros spoke harshly. Ulvone looked down in shame with a whine. He didn't budge at all from her cute but sad expression. "You're grounded. No kisses, cuddling, sex, or headpats until tomorrow..."

"Mmrgmh," Ulvone made a grumbling noise in protest. 

"...Is what I would say, but you're in for a treat," Akros smiled wryly, bringing out Volien and Mavos. "You like playing from the backlines, so I have crafted these for you. Go on, take them."

The bow and empty quiver floated into her trembling arms. Ulvone was shocked at first, not expecting gifts after disappointing her master. She carefully strapped Mavos around her waist with the belt made of shadow stone. The adamantine longbow was light, but instead of holding onto it Ulvone placed in her separate space. 

"Now, how much did you teach them?" Akros inquired, flicking his eyes toward the group of 7 beside Ulvone. Her expression turned brighter.

"A lot! All of them were able to start condensing their magic power. Although it'll still take a year or so, they should promote soon!" Ulvone happily reported, hoping the good news would lift Akros' mood. To her relief he nodded with a thoughtful expression.

"Good work. You seven! Come, I have finished my work on your weapons."

Ulvone moved to the side with the fallen angels. They had already seen the reforged weapons, but Ulvone had not and was a bit excited for the others. When Akros unveiled their weapons, the jaws of the seven middle-rank demons dropped. He made each gravitate to its owner, before laughing a bit at their expressions.

"Hahaha! Is it really that unbelievable?" Akros had a silly grin on his face momentarily, then got serious again. "If you're wondering why I enlarged them all, it's for when each of you promote. Like me and Ulvone, you will grow larger. Only makes sense to increase the volume of your weapons as well."

""Thank you, master!"" Seven voices rang out at once. They did this often, so they lowered their voices to make their collective noise level lower. Akros appreciated this a lot.

While he had created a the Wind-Wind logia fruit for Luane, he didn't give it to her yet. Too many new things would make it harder for her to learn quickly. He would give it to her when she promoted to high-rank. He may give other devil fruits to his other companions as well...

"Now, you'd do well to get some rest. By next dawn, we will continue marching. I shall let the rest of the army know momentarily," Akros stood from the couch, stretching his limbs. He yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes, making his fatigue a bit obvious. 

"Master, why don't we do that?" Morwen suggested suddenly, catching him unawares. He looked at her with surprise. "Forgive me for saying this, but you look tired. Please rest."

"No need," Akros shook his head after a moment of thought. "Once I tell some high-rank demons, they'll inform the other demons. Fret not, I plan on getting sleep."

He left the group of demons and fallen angels to themselves. Lyra quickly sat where he had a few seconds prior and spread her wings to hog the couch for herself. The others had to take the elven couches. Okami, Ulvone, and Luane created their own lounge chairs via magic. Soon enough many of them drifted off into slumber, leaving a few awake. 

Among these few were Hilda and Uriel who were cuddling. They both possessed a deep admiration and love for Akros, but also enjoyed each other's company. When Akros was busy and they weren't, they spent much of their time fooling around with each other. Tickling each other, playing card games, chasing each other around, and generally not acting as someone of their authority would normally. 

However, with Akros' backing they could do as they pleased. If any demon in his army dared scorn them, their soul would be added to Akros' collection. He was very adept at collecting souls right after a kill, not even the Ouroburos Mark on other demons' souls could save them.

Sometimes the fun of the fallen angel pair included Lyra, who was less familiar with activities like cards. They taught her many forms of entertainment during the 50 years they spent in Vrathe. When Uriel and Hilda were in private, they got more invested into each other. As they cuddled on the elven sofa, they quietly made out. They had burned up their sexual desires with Akros, but their energy was bountiful thanks to his Dark Restoring. They hugged and traded saliva in an intimate display of lesbian love.

Lyra was the only other one awake, because she had also received Akros' restoring magic. She noticed the two kissing in her peripherals and looked away. That kind of thing felt wrong to her, even after seeing it so often in the reverse gangbangs she participated in. Akros was generally against same gender love, but had a bias for cute girls. That said, she had seen similar images in his memories before, but the human women were far less attractive and graceful as fallen angels. Uriel and Hilda's makeout sessions put all of the lesbian love in Akros' memory to shame. Regardless, she averted her gaze from the two in discomfort.

It didn't take long for Akros to return, taking his place with Lyra on the dwarven couch. He fell asleep nearly instantly in her embrace, burying his face into her bosom. She rubbed his head and shoulders lovingly, making his body ease up unconsciously. Hours passed by, the sun falling and rising again. Lyra shook Akros awake once the first rays of sunlight passed over the demon-infested city. 

He pushed himself off her chest, giving her a groggy but genuine smile of gratitude. Her heart melted at the silly expression, she couldn't help but giggle. Akros didn't know why she was laughing, but chose to ignore it and stood with a loud roar.

"RAAAAOOOOOOOOHH!!" His howl spread echoed throughout the broken city, startling all of the demons into waking quickly. They had long killed the elven women after getting their satisfaction out of them, so they were the only form of intelligent life in the city. The only form of life at all besides the variety of birds and insects coming to feed off of the corpses of elves, dwarves, unicorns, and pegasi.

Akros equipped his Imperial Gold armor along with his Abyssal gem armor pieces which were separate. Only the vambraces counted as one entity because they were linked together via the system creating them to be exactly identical and perfectly symmetric. When his personal units saw his black and red appearance, they could only gawk in awe. They could recognize the gem armor from the metallic plates, but for him to replace a material like Imperial Gold... what could he have used? Only Lyra knew, but she didn't want to spoil it. 

However, all of them shared one question. How could he see or speak? His mask covered his eyes and jaw completely, leaving them stunned. However, not even Lyra dared doubt his planning. There was a reason behind this odd scene, they thought.

"Come, my devout followers..." A deep voice smoother than silk emanated from the gleaming black diamond covering Akros' face. "We have horrors to sow. Lives to reap. Let us make them regret... being free."

"M-master?" Enyo asked in disbelief. "Is that you speaking?"

The blank mask turned slightly to face her directly, making her flinch. "Yes, little Enyo. This mask is a very potent relic. The voice you hear presently is not of my vocal cords, but of my mind. This is... a truer vocalization of myself..."

"Then why do you sound so sad?" Galadriel's voice was thick with concern. The other girls had similar worried expressions. "Master, is something wrong?"

"I..." His voice shook along with his body. He touched his neck tentatively with his gem-covered claws. "I have not heard my true voice in so long... no, it matters not. Let us march."

Akros' voice through the mask sounded like a deeper and smoother version of his human voice. His composure wavered at the sudden nostalgia that flooded him, but he recovered quickly. He spread his wings and activated Dark Ascension. With his new armor, the mana cost wasn't even tangible. In stark contrast, the darkness coating his wings was far stronger than before, but he was prepared. He controlled his ascent so he hovered 100 feet in the air and drifted towards the city wall. 

The demons underneath Akros recognized his shadow magic, so even with his new armor they knew it was him. Shadow demons were extremely rare in the Abyss, said to have descended from Deadly Sin Demon King of Lust, Asmodeus, who was the first shadow demon. However, all of his "descendants" that were shadow demons were not his biological spawn. 

They were weaker clones made through the Red Sea Egg, a primordial lifeform that helped originate succubi and shadow demons as species. Lilith was only the mother of succubi and nephilim in name, as all of them were creations of the Red Sea Egg or the offspring of other clones. Unlike succubi who frequently had sex and bore eggs that they sent to the upper Abyss to continue their race, shadow demons were actually failed clones. Asmodeus knew the power of his bloodline, and didn't want it to spread very far. Shadow demons were rare due to that reason, some demons lived for centuries without so much as seeing one.

That is why even though Akros had yet to promote to demon lord, he was revered as a idol among the demons he and Pheom summoned. They gathered underneath him automatically, reforming their formations from before they attacked the elf city. Akros' seven middle-rank demons lead the formation of those of their rank. Now that they began to condense their magic power, they were acknowledged as leaders among the middle-rank demons. 

Ulvone and the fallen angel trio lead the high-rank demons. Ulvone was a powerful high-rank demon with Akros' backing, so she naturally had leadership privileges. Lyra, Uriel, and Hilda were simply much more powerful than a majority of the high-rank demons. Due to their frequent consumption of depravity, they were reaching their limits as dominion fallen angels. Dominion angels were typically stronger than high-rank demons, so they could not refuse their orders. 

However there was some unhappiness as some demons did not favor fallen angels, seeing them as still angels. Demons had an instictual and trauma-induced hatred towards angels, so for some it was very difficult to accept fallen angels as their allies. Knowing the desparity in power was one thing keeping them from attacking.

Akros' presence was the main thing keeping the demons in check. They saw his new armor and felt that his latent magic power pressure increased significantly for reasons unknown. They knew better than to ask, and instead followed him loyally due to his power. He lead them out of one of the barred gates, melting it away with a single tendril of shadowflame. The purplish black fire spread rapidly, consuming the city walls and eventually the city itself. Fortunately for the demons, they were already out of the premises by the time the buildings were aflame. 

Akros lead his army along a elf road leading deeper into territory. Judging by the fact that it was paved in brick, he guessed it was an important road. That could only mean another large city was at the other end of this road. Days passed by as he followed this road. With the help of his mask, his Observation Haki was stronger than ever. He killed all of the spies he detected with it from afar. Those who dared get closer and try to hide were tore apart by hellhounds and other feral low-rank demons.

A week passed by without any large conflict with the natives. Word of the one city Akros destroyed must have spread as the small villages and towns he passed by were barren of intelligent life. Still, he razed them as part of an aggravation tactic to make the elves angrier. He wanted more souls to create armor for his personal units. Now that his supply of blood mercury and adamantium was low, he needed souls to create materials from nothing. Not that he planned to use only those two metals...

After a week of traveling down this road, Akros was informed by one of his scouts that there was a vast army approaching. One consisting of elven forces along with humans, angels, dragons, and titans. The number was estimated to be around 75,000 troops in total, larger than Akros' army. He felt his Saiyan cells broil at the glorious and gruesome battle that awaited. 

A day later, the army the demon scouts mentioned came into sight of the main force. While Akros couldn't sense that far with Haki, he could feel the discomfort below in his army. Thousands of angels along with hundreds of titans and dragons made for a daunting scene, the army covering the horizon completely. The dragons were mostly green or emerald dragons, but there was some large gold dragons as well. Titans were humanoid beings over a hundred feet tall with rippling muscles and potent magic power. Their eyes glowed with energy as they stomped across the earth. 

The sea of elf and human troops were far less intimidating as middle and high-rank demons would trample over most of them. Only the human archmages and the elven unicorn knights were a slight threat. As the blood of the demons started to boil under their hatred for angels and hunger for souls, Akros played an odd card. He flew up to the front of the army and signaled them to halt. Surprisingly the demons did not complain, but he figured it was due to fear. 

Akros, alone, approached the army of different nations. The elves requested the aid of the dragons, titans, and human kingdom after suffering the mass destruction of demons. Deeming the demon uprising as a threat, the various races joined together and formed an alliance to push the demons back. Leading this army specifically were five generals of each race. A massive gold dragon hundreds of years old, a human archmage hero, an elven grand general, a looming storm titan, and a six-winged throne angel. 

Seeing Akros halt his army and approach, they could only wonder what he was doing. Out of curiosity and the small hope that they could resolve this peacefully, the five generals nodded at each other and halted their units as well. The generals met Akros between the two armies, stopping a hundred feet in front of the still shadow demon.

"Demon! Are you attempting a bargain?" The human mage asked cautiously. He was an elderly man with long gray hair and a dark blue robe. He looked like the stereotypical wizard, which Akros found bland.

"You can think of it that way. I have an offer," Akros' deep and smooth voice came from his mask. "I want her. In return, I'll turn my army around and we will leave this land."

He pointed a gem-coated finger at the six-winged angel. She was beautiful and had short spiky black hair. She had a tomboy feel to her, which Akros found attractive. Not only that, but she would be a powerful addition to his forces. However, his request only made her sharp features contort in anger.

"You want my soul? Nice try. You are merely high-rank! You do not deserve the soul of Querryla!" She spat, pointing her golden angelic sword at him with hostility. 

While the elf and human would willingly give Akros her soul for his leave, the dragon and titan understood from previous encounters with demons summoned by Urgash. The souls of powerful entities made demons stronger after consumption. Even worse, this demon may try to corrupt her soul into falling and birth a fallen angel. They could see three of them further back in the demon army, and had no doubt this was Akros' motive. So they backed Querryla's decision, posturing to fight.

"Aw phooey," Akros sighed without a care in the world. He shook his head sadly, as if they had refused his help. "I tried to make an excuse to retreat, but I suppose this is suitable as well."

He drew Crafanc from his inventory, then flicked his head toward his army. "Come, demons! Slay these whelps who dare defy my will!"

At the same time, the five generals rallied their forces. As the armies came together, the generals went straight for Akros. However, he was already gone. He emerged halfway from Querrlya's shadow, snatching her ankle and dragged her into the shadow realm. While the total cold of the shadow realm suffocated and froze most beings, her bodily heat as a throne angel kept her warm. She stabbed at his arm pulling her leg while cursing.

To her shock, the black glittery material on his forearm deflected her sword. Akros felt the blow and scoffed. He sent Crafanc back into his inventory while Querrlya tried to damage him with no effect. In her frustration she used a unique magic he had never seen before, a holy-type water magic. The fluid seeped between the chinks of his armor and burned his skin, making him cry in pain and release her ankle. He hastily armored his skin with Haki to reduce the damage, but the pain was still en large. 

"Gah! What kind of magic is that?!" Akros roared, clutching his arm. 

Querrlya scoffed with an equally upset tone. "And what kind of armor is that?! How can my sword not penetrate it?!"

"Hmph! Your knowledge of the Abyss must be slim. How unfortunate for you!" He taunted, buying time for his scorched flesh to heal. "It matters not in the end. I can leave you here in the Shadow Realm, and you cannot leave on your own. You've already lost."

"Such insolence!" Querrlya grit her teeth in a display of taking offense, but in her mind she was getting nervous. She had little knowledge of shadow demons besides knowing they descended from Asmodeus. The space she was in was totally unfamiliar. She'd no doubt lose her mind and succumb to madness if she had to remain in her forever alone. But first, she had to take care of this demon. She readied her holy water magic, creating several orbs of it and flinging them at Akros.

"Child's play!" Akros used Shadow Melt to transform into shadow in areas of his body that were hit by the orbs. It also applied to his armor, so the orbs passed right through his body and soared off into the infinite darkness.

"What?!" Querrlya was stunned by this display. 

Akros used this time to fire Shadow Bullets at her. Her reaction time was fast enough that she melted her body and armor into golden liquid where the bullets passed through. It was his turn to be shocked.

"What is this? Are we copying each other's moves?" Akros said in bewilderment. Whatever magic this angel was using, it was very impressive so far. However, time was wasting away. While time in the shadow realm ran much faster than the outside world of Ashan did, he needed to get in the fight or his army would lose. He didn't hesitate any longer and swam at unholy speeds towards Querrlya, his body flowing smoothly like a dolphin but with the friendliness of a ballistic missile.

She cast a sphere of the golden liquid around her, creating a shield. Akros circled around her while she observed him nervously. She had no clue what he wanted to do to her without a weapon, but knew that her magic could hurt him. So she resorted to using a shield while trying to note any obvious weaknesses she could exploit, any good openings to use her magic against him.  

Yet she couldn't deny the dread eating away at her. What if she was locked in this dimension forever? She had an immortal body as a six-winged angel, she wouldn't die to time nor be able to kill herself. Doubts began to form in her conscious. Was it worth fighting back? What if she killed him and locked herself inside this realm by doing so? Maybe... falling is the only option?

Meanwhile Akros tried to break the barrier open with magic, but to little avail. Shadow Bullets did nothing. Abyssal Tremor would make it tremble, but Querrlya would simply input mana to restore it. He even cast a full-power Mortal Gleam out of frustration, the beam being larger and stronger than ever with his black diamond. A ray of pitch black energy tore across the shadow realm, but at the end the golden liquid sphere remained with the angel inside. 

She was now visually exhausted after spending a great amount of mana to uphold her shield. Akros wasn't much better, having spent most of his mana in one cast. However, his mana regenerated at a far superior pace to hers. After a few seconds of recovery time he bathed his wings in shadowflame and stabbed them at the barrier. It became battered with each thrust, and Querrlya's mana slowly drained as she fought against the weakening of her lifeline. 

Eventually, the shield evaporated as Querrlya's mana ran dry. She gripped her sword and assumed a shaky battle posture, glaring at Akros weakly. 

"I-I'm not finished yet!" Her voice was shaky. It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than him. "This angel will... not lose!

"Put your sword away," Akros rolled his eyes at her defiant retaliation. He extinguished the fire on his wings and drifted toward her. "It cannot harm me. Tell you what, I'll let you leave this realm. On one condition."

"What condition?" Querrlya asked hesitantly, her posture stiff.

"Fall."

"Huh?! You have lost your mind if you think-"

"I reckon you've been worrying about being stuck here, no?" Akros unequipped his armor in a brave move. He smiled at her warmly, spreading his arms wide. "If I leave without you, you're stuck here by yourself. You don't want that, do you?"

"You...!" Querrlya realized what he was doing. She began to tremble uncontrollably with emotion. The fear of eternal loneliness infested her body, fighting against her hatred for demons. 

Adding to her distress, there was a nagging bitterness inside the angel. She had lived for over a thousand years, and promoted to the throne level a hundred years ago. She had gone through great efforts to increase her standing and power, only to watch other angels overtake her in speed of growth. Younger angels at the same level as her promoted before she did when she was still a two-winged angel. Later when she grew to be a dominion angel, another angel hundreds of years younger promoted to throne before she had. Jealousy gnawed at her continuously, and made her treat young angels harshly. 

This everlasting bitterness and fear of being left to wither away and lose her sanity alone in the Shadow Realm made her more open-minded. If she couldn't be a good angel, why shouldn't she fall and join the Abyss? She knew that demons cared little for merit and popularity. Strength ruled the demon hierarchy, which Querrlya could work with. Her slow growth aside, if she could rule over demons alongside this shadow demon... the thought was extremely tempting. No doubt as a descendant of Asmodeus, the first shadow demon, Akros had great potential. 

Her latent negative emotions burst as she forsook her heavenly vows. Casting aside any regret, she let the darkness in. Her white feathers blackened, her golden irises turned dark purple, and the glowing angel characters on her armor and sword began to glow purple as well. She looked down at her gold clad hands, which were turning black. She looked up at Akros with a firm but sad expression. "I will at least retain my memory?"

"Since you fell willingly, yes," Akros said softly, drifting towards her. He brushed the tears from her eyes and hugged her gently. "I will treat you very well. I understand that you wish no harm upon your forming comrades, so I'll have you sit out of this battle. In the mortal realm, that is. But before that..."

He placed a hand on her neck, making her flinch. A black tattoo shaped like Akros' horns curled around her collar, brimming with magic power. Querrlya could feel the brand embedding itself, but painlessly. She could only ask in confusion: "What are you doing to me?"

"Marking you as mine," Akros replied with a mischievous grin. "It also allows me to find your coordinates through worlds and detect your general wellbeing. Since you're part of my elite force, a Shadow Brand is necessary."

"Okay..." Querrlya nodded absentmindedly. She was more focused on her bodily changes than his words right now.

Her physical form changed greatly once she fell completely. Her body became much more curvaceous and her magic power grew considerably. Falling had restored her mana with a new magic energy, one of a corrupted angel. As a throne angel, she was 12 feet tall and was not entirely tangible. Her body was ethereal as part of reaching six wings as an angel, in place of flesh she had glowing purple light. This was her immortal body coming into play. However, her body was still held together. That allowed Akros to pull her into the Shadow Realm by her ankle.

Even with an somewhat ethereal form, Akros could tell how well she developed. He couldn't help but remark: "Damn... you went from a flat chest to that?"

"W-wha?" Querryla covered her breasts with her arms in embarrassment. Her armor hadn't changed in size, so her previously covered chest was now on nearly full display. The top half of her bosom was totally out. 

He chuckled, sliding a hand down her back to squeeze her rear. Her body wasn't fleshy, more like a gelatin or a very thick fluid. Her cheeks were actually very tangible and quite pleasing to touch. Puzzled, he absentmindedly kept feeling her up. Out of her newfound obedience she didn't fight back, but her pride took a blow.

"Demon..." She bit back a moan. "You could at least tell me your name before we have intercourse."

"Oh, right," Akros was still confused how her body worked, but pushed those thoughts aside. He had a battle to get back to. "My name is Akros. Now is there any other six-winged angels in your army?"

Querryla thought for a moment, then nodded. "Two others, both significantly weaker than I. They are newly promoted throne angels, why?"

"Are they female?"

"...yes..."

"Perfect! Thank you, Querryla. Alright, let's go back up. When I let you back into the mortal realm, you should meet up with the three fallen angels among my forces. They'll understand that I sent you. If you do not wish to fight angels then focus on other races. Just not demons, of course."

"Do not take me for a fool, Akros. I know better than to attack the forces of my..." Querryla had to take a moment to find the right word. "Benefactor. But by no means will I be kind to them. I will not help them."

"I don't expect you to," Akros smiled evilly. "Once I have an adequate amount of souls, we will leave this world and the demons who remain here that I do not have a contract with. There are beings capable of sealing even demon lords in this world, no? The Elemental Dragons are not to be trifled with."

"Oh? Not only are you a perverted trickster, but you're a coward?" Querrlya frowned down at him, crossing her arms. She inadvertently pushed her bust up as she did, and Akros couldn't help but stare. Her breasts were ethereal and seemingly made out of energy, but they had tangible squish to them. He could not understand this at all even after groping her continuously. She was far from pleased with this nonchalant attitude and touchy nature of his. "Let go! How much more do you need to touch me?!"

"A lot. Your body is quite unique. Sadly, it'll have to wait," Akros sighed, softly pushing her away. He reequipped his armor before extending an open hand to her. "Grab my hand. We're going."

Querryla readied her sword and gingerly clasped his hand with her free one. Akros emerged from with her, and was shocked to see that the battle had barely started. They appeared in the middle of the two sides beginning to clash, where Akros had stood previously before the five generals. Thinking fast he threw Querryla in the air, sending her in the direction of the human army. The angels were in the middle, decently far away from the humans. Akros deemed it was far enough to reduce her heartache.

However, once he reappeared with a six-winged fallen angel, both the demon army and the alliance army came to a screeching halt in pure shock. All of them but Akros' personal force expected him to lose the battle, but the opposite occurred. A high-rank demon should not be able to make a six-winged angel fall! It defied the angel and demon's knowledge and greatly confused them. Once they got over their shock, it was replaced by fury or excitement. The angels were outraged at this travesty, while the intelligent demons had felt as if they had hit a goldmine. Akros was truly a special demon!

With a triumphant roar from his mask, Akros made the nearest alliance forces hesitate in fear while rallying his own troops. He didn't waste time and went straight for the biggest threats to his army: the two throne angels. As angel blood was spilled by the hands of demons, the six-winged angels were clearly visible in the rear line casting healing and resurrection magic. When  a high-rank demon slew a hundred angels with a mighty blast of hellfire, the angels were brought back near instantly. Akros could not have this. 

 He burst through the line of pegasi knights and flew straight for the six-winged angels. Several cries of alarm rang through the elves and angels as Akros split them like a banana. With Dark Ascension more powerful than ever and his Abyssal/God-slaying armor, nothing could stop him in the air. Dozens of angels came together to form a barrier of gold light after seeing him coming, only for it to shatter brilliantly upon contact with his head. Even his horns were deadly due to the black diamond covering them. 

While the dragons and titans saw this happening, they were too slow to help the angels. They focused on crushing the small demons that swarmed them, obliterating them with magic. Only when the middle and high-rank demons got in magic casting range did the massive lifeforms take damage. Morwen and the other 4 war demons lead the middle-rank demons into battle, working together to slay dragons left and right with their new and improved weaponry. Even Enyo and Hecate, who were mages, were far too nimble to get hit by dragon breath.

Lyra, Uriel, and Hilda targeted the titans. They had high resistance to fire magic due to their thick skin and high vitality, so they made fearsome opponents for most demons. But for these four the weaker titans were mere playthings. Uriel crushed their bones and organs with her adamantine-covered limbs while Hilda and Lyra cut them down with their Imperial Gold blades. 

Lyra took the time to corrupt several more powerful titans with Void Mother, gaining powerful allies that slaughtered their former brethren without mercy. Void corruption increased one's magical and physical might, the already upper-tier titans became true monsters within their race once they were fully corrupt.

The low-rank demons were outmatched against the human and elven armies. They were decimated by experienced archers and sturdy knights, demon blood coating the armor of the frontlining humans, dwarves, and elves. Only when middle-rank demons came into the fight did the tide turn. Swathes of hellfire and other various elements took out alliance forces in clusters. 

The high-rank demons were the main force against the angel army along with the majority of the middle-rank demons. While Akros' unit held their ground against dragons and titans, the sea of angels was not so easily dealt with. The cause of this was the hundreds of four-winged angels and two six-winged angels supplying supportive or long-range ballistic magic. The demons were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. Enyo, Ulvone, and Hecate were acting as healers, but even with their continuous healing their maximum output was still too low. They lacked the resurrection magic the angels had. 

Between healing allies, Ulvone shot down many angels with Volien. The Imperial Gold tipped arrows tore through even dominion angels without stopping at all. Each shot killed several angels at a time due to the overpenetration. Normally with resupplying her arrows and casting healing magic, her mana would've long ran out. However, Mavos was made mostly of demon pearl. Not only was her healing magic stronger than before, but her mana restored itself at speeds she thought impossible. 

Hecate and Enyo did similarly, multitasking to get the most out of their demon pearl integrated weapons. Red lightning and golden flame burned through the swarms of angels attacking the high-rank demons, confusing the angels greatly. Gold magic was usually used by angels, so at first they thought it was betrayal. It took them some time to notice the true caster, who only made herself known by laughing maniacally. 

Enyo was quieter. While jets of lava burned through angels between her rounds of healing, she chanted quietly with a determined expression. Several times was her casting interrupted by lone angels who made it to the back line. Those few angels didn't last long against Finality and Xeluge.

They along with the other demons cheered as Akros zipped past them in the direction of the six-winged angels. It was then the pair realized his intentions and switched their attention from helping their kin to him. 

"Halt! Demon!" One of them shouted, launching a beam of light screaming towards his flying figure. He created a burst of shadowflame around his body, then condensed it. His form became a purple flaming bullet as he accelerated and burned through lines of angels and their magic. Barriers, lightning, explosions, none of that stopped him. Even the throne angel's beam dissipated near instantly against the shell of purple flame. This was the power of black diamond. The angel was stunned beyond belief. "What?! How can this be?!"

"Maintain your focus, Eon!" The other six-winged angel called out, charging her own attack. Solid golden spears appeared around her body as she concentrated her mana in condensing holy light. She grunted with effort as the 50th spear was made, then flung a hand toward Akros' approaching figure. "Golden Skewer!!"

Akros was impressed by the spell at first. Creating 50 weapons out of pure magic energy was no small feat. However, they were too fragile to pierce his shadowflame. They crumbled into yellow ash in less than a second after contacting Akros' shell of fire. The throne angel cursed while drawing her sword. Eon, the other throne angel recovered from her shock and drew her magnificent angelic spear. 

The other angels knew they could not intervene without severe consequences. The collateral damage created by six-winged angels and powerful demons was immense. If they tried to get close as Akros fought with the pair, they would likely disintegrate under the clashing of magic energy. With this knowledge in mind, they left the throne angel duo to fight him alone. He seemed immune to their magic anyway, why would they waste time on an opponent too strong?

Once Akros came within a hundred feet, the shadowflame casket burst outward, creating a spectacular view of purple fiery tendrils. Black energy flowed out of his wings as he hovered in the sky. His armored tail wagged to and fro as he observed his current opponents.

"Demon! Report your name!" Eon cried in fierce manner, brandishing her spear at the glistening black armored demon before her. Her graceful face was contorted in seething rage as she spoke. "I am Eon, chosen of Elrath!"

At a closer look, Eon was a gorgeous woman with long wavy black locks reaching her hips. Her chest was nigh flat, but her thick thighs and wide hips made her quite attractive. Her rear was also quite scrumptious according to Akros' Observation Haki, let him view her whole body at once. 

Most angels weren't exceptionally sexually attractive as angels did not have intercourse, but Eon seemed to be an exception. Similarly, Uriel was curvaceous even as a pure angel which made her an outlier. 

Eon had gold and white angelic armor coating her body near entirely. A few chinks were made to allow fluid movement, aside from that she was fully covered in a layer of plating. Her spear's shaft was white with a golden tip, shaped like a feathery wing. 

"And I am Iris, chosen of Elrath!" The sword-wielding six-winged angel bellowed, moving to hover beside her comrade. Iris' expression was more concerned than angry. After seeing their superior, Querrlya, fall at the hands of this demon how could she not fear what was to come? Even though this demon had only four wings, he certainly had to be close to reaching demon lord. It was likely only a matter of time before he attempted his promotion trial. 

Iris bore blood red straight hair stopping at her chest. She had a slim figure and wielded a large golden scimitar, one almost as long as she was tall. The grip had to be 3 feet long in comparison to her 12 feet tall body. She had little curves judging by her armor, but must have some muscle to make up for it. Her limbs were decently thick even without any fat. She had armor very similar to Eon's.

Eon had similar thoughts to her ally, but instead of worrying she was determined to stop him here. A high-rank demon was worlds apart from a demon lord, she thought. This demon must've used some kind of devious trickery magic to make Querrlya fall. 

"I am Akros, shadow demon of the Abyss! You would do well to surrender yourselves to me!" He commanded with a condescending tone. He summoned Crafanc, the vampiric Imperial Gold zweihander, and pointed its edge at Eon who was closer. "If you fall voluntarily, you keep your memories, you know? If I have to make you, you'll become my clueless bi-"

"Enough!" Eon shrieked in rage, charging at him with a blast of gold light behind her. A technique very similar to Neiro's, meaning her golden blast magic must have backblast. Akros was shocked by her speed as he barely had time to block her speartip with Crafanc. A horrible screech cried from their weapons as the metals ground against each other in a fierce clash. Eon grit her teeth and pushed madly while Akros grunted verbally as he fought against her momentum. The clashing of their weapons created a powerful shockwave that blasted away any angels within 200 feet minus Iris.

With Dark Ascension, he could accelerate himself forward without flapping his wings. What he didn't know was that Eon could do something similar by using the backblast of her magic. An explosion of gold came from behind her, granting her the force necessary to shove Akros away. In his shock of actually being pushed back, he subconsciously allowed himself to be flung. Only after a few seconds did he right himself in the air, when more gold magical spears came ripping through the air. 

Thinking fast, he dashed to the left with a burst of darkness from his two right wings. The spears seemed to bounce off the air as they turned sharply and instantly to give chase. Akros scoffed, casting Dark Barrier around himself. The spears shattered upon hitting the black translucent sphere, but not without sending shuddering vibrations through it. The shield rippled violently as Akros had to input more magic power than he expected to block all 50 spears. 

With his black diamond armor he expected the skill to become much more powerful, but little did he know it was only dark in name. Dark Barrier was actually a type of barrier magic, completely separate from his dark magics.

What the hell is this? I'm being pushed back by two throne angels who are weak for their rank? Querryla's more powerful than them, yet she submit to me. Did the threat of eternal solitude humble her, or was she already having doubts and was more open to falling? I should ask later...

The final spear broke on his Dark Barrier, and he finally deactivated the skill. He was at about 75% of his total mana supply, but it was regenerating at a rapid speed of 1% per 3 seconds. This meant he could regenerate the mana he lost in 75 seconds. His mana recovery speed would be slightly faster if Dark Ascension was deactivated as well, while the consumption was low it still required some magic power. 

As soon as he let the spherical shield down, Eon was already in front of him. With Observation Haki he was able to narrowly dodge the incoming thrust of her spear. The feather-shaped blade pierced the shadow particles left in the air from his wings, before it became illuminated. Akros had no time to dodge, so he hastily covered his chest with Armament Haki. A holy blast from the tip of Eon's spear sent him cascading back in Iris' direction. 

While his Haki-coated armor nullified the damage entirely, the concussive force was unhindered. He had to take a moment to right himself again but during that time Iris struck from behind with her scimitar. Using his tail blade covered in magnate ruby, Akros blocked the strike while continuing to face the oncoming Eon. His four blade wings which were pouring out shadow magic to keep him aloft converged into a point to stab Iris. She flapped her wings with increased might to lift her body up and over the sharp crystalline limbs. 

As Iris was dodging, Eon spun herself violently and launched a vicious spear swing at Akros' neck. Rather than blocking, he melted his neck and head into shadow letting the angelic spear pass through as if nothing was there. Eon was slightly surprised by this technique, and was caught by a Haki-empowered hook to her jaw. She shot downwards through the air, only stopping when she crashed into the ground a thousand feet below Akros. A large crater formed around her with a loud boom.

"Eon!" Iris cried in dismay. She was right to be wary of this demon's strength. This was no ordinary high-rank demon, but a quasi-demon lord! A high-rank demon at the peak of its class, so far above its peers it was in a level of its own. Quasi-demon lords such as Akros could contend with weaker demon lords and throne angels such as Eon and Iris, who had only promoted a century ago. This knowledge only made Iris more determined to kill him here and now. With a grunt she slashed downward at Akros' head from above, but to her confusion his body turned into dark mist wherever her scimitar would've rended flesh. 

"I'm done playing," Akros' smooth bass voice was wrought with irritation. While his Saiyan blood cells screamed for battle, for blood, he didn't want to kill these two angels for their potential to become his units. He needed a good fight, but he had yet to meet anyone capable of really pushing him. 

In terms of raw strength, he was around the same as these six-winged angels. Yet, considering his skills, they could had no chance. Super Saiyan allowed him to surpass his body's limits and would curb stomp them with ease. Even if they dealt a lethal blow, he'd regenerate. If they dealt enough damage they could possibly trigger Blood Fury, but that would make it harder for them. 

Even without those overpowered rage skills, Shadow Melt and both types of Haki was enough to allow him to outplay the angels with raw technique. Akros was no longer the inexperienced fighter he was once was. 50 years of sparring with Lyra his other units who were more experienced with battle gave him the help he needed to become a capable combatant. 

While Akros could play around with the throne angels longer, his demons were dying by the second. The sooner he got to killing other alliance units, the better. He grabbed Iris' gold scimitar with a silver Haki-affected hand and yanked her close. She yelped in surprise, but before she could let go and flee his tail wrapped around her waist. Akros snatched her other hand to prevent her from casting any magic, then pulled her chest to his. As he did he repositioned his left hand from her sword to grab her right wrist. She grunted at the rough impact, then glared down at him while gripping the handle of her scimitar tightly. The scene was a little odd given Akros was a foot shorter without horns.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" Iris strained against his hold, but found she could not budge. Unlike Eon, who was on par with Akros in terms of strength, Iris was slightly weaker. She was more capable with her light particle magic that she used to create magic spears and other projectiles or weapons. The sword in her hand was a product of her magic. 

Charm.

Instantly Iris' expression changed. The intense, burning determination melted away and was replaced with a docile but loving look in her eyes. Her grisly frown turned into a cute, happy smile. Akros let go of her, but she continued to cling to his body greedily. 

"Ooh, you're really out of it," Akros could not help but appreciate the skill of his bloodline. He cupped Iris' chin, receiving a silly giggle from the entranced angel. "Iris, I need you to do something for me."

"Okay~" Iris said without hesitation, kissing his mask where his lips would be. As an angel whose mind was meant to be stoic and without sinful emotion, her mind being overcast with lust caused her to begin falling. It was slow, but her armor and wings were darkening by the second. Six wings and golden equipment turned black, yellow energy from the angel runes in her armor began to glow purple as the corruption spread throughout her body. Her body started to fill out more as well, her chest, rear, and thighs swelling.

"Hold still for a moment," Akros ordered, to which Iris happily obeyed. She cooed as he branded her as his property while her curves pushed out her armor considerably. Akros could see her skin change as well. Before she seemed to have human skin, unlike Querryla who bore an immortal ethereal body. As Iris gained a power boost from falling and obtaining depravation, she gained a full immortal body. 

Her skin turned a light purple, glowing slightly. Her eyes glowed a darker shade of the same color along with her lips, which became glossy. Her hair remained crimson, oddly enough. Without a helmet it flowed freely, and made for some interesting contrast in her outfit.

Akros surveyed the area with Haki to see the angels watching from a distance to be frozen, likely with shock. He also saw that Eon had dug herself out of the hole she made in the earth. It had only taken her a minute, which was how much time had passed since Akros punched her.

"Iris, I need you to go help the other fallen angels other there, you see them?" Akros pointed to Hilda, who was ripping Infen out of a titan's eye socket. Iris hefted her black scimitar, grinning as she nodded in confirmation. "Go!"

"Yes, dear!" Iris replied, vanishing the next instant. Akros figured she was near his level of speed, which was impressive in itself. Speed was one of his higher stats. Moments after she was gone, a burst of violent and furious energy came from below him, making Akros draw Crafanc out of surprise. He sensed his surroundings with Haki, and found that Eon's magical energy had exploded below him!

The throne angel, in her rage at seeing the other two six-winged angels fall along with the other angel deaths, made a reckless decision. She shouted a short chant, and her body changed. Her armor and wings shifted from white to a neon red, while the gold sections remained. Her hair was still onyx black, making her look the opposite of Iris. The only difference was their weapons and hairstyle. Eon's hair was longer and much more wavy.

Blood angels were ticking time bombs. By taking the blood oath, they gained unbelievable power and could take on demons or other beings who were much more powerful than their regular selves. However, this power came at the price of their life. Their bodies would only last for so long before time ran out. Once it did, there bodies and souls would wither away into nothingness. Taking the blood oath guaranteed the death of the angel in question, so it served as a last resort. 

"DEMON!! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!! BLOOD ANGEL EON WILL SEE TO YOUR DEMISE!!" The six-winged blood angel shrieked, having now gone totally ballistic. She instantly appeared next to Akros before he could even move. He didn't have time to use any skills or twist his body at all as her spear slammed against his chestplate. 

Imperial Gold was no folly. Even against this angel who was now on the level of cherub due to the blood oath, it did not break entirely. Her spear penetrated, but not deep. The stab to his chest stopped before it reached his heart, saving his life. While the spear was stuck, Akros cast Solar Flare with all of his might. An explosion of shadowflame forced Eon to fall back from him, abandoning her weapon. Akros did not know what material the spear was made from, but the shadowflame from Solar Flare was unable to melt it. It seemed to be a very powerful alloy of the heavens.

Akros ripped it out, mobilizing magic power to his chestplate to let it regenerate along with his chest wound. He quickly stored it in the system before Eon could take it back, not that she didn't try. Red fingers gripped empty air, then clenched into a fist and sought Akros' jaw. The raw force stunned him and propelled him backwards while spinning.

"Urgh!" Akros could not help but grunt verbally, even though his mask muffled the sound. His head spun as he righted himself in the air as quickly as he could. He didn't have to use Observation Haki to know Eon was coming, her rampant magic power aura was quite tangible. Knowing he was on the defensive, he coated his body with Armament Haki mere milliseconds prior to another blow. 

Eon came from above and spiked him downward with a kick to his head. Instead of crashing into the ground like she had by his hand, Akros didn't descend far. Haki absorbed much of the impact while he poured extra mana into Dark Ascension to fight the momentum of her heel. The jetpack-like spell allowed him to reduce how far he was sent downward. 

Akros maintained his Armament Haki as Eon smacked him around repeatedly. At first her blows were too fast and heavy for him to even react to, but after a dozen hits his Saiyan blood cells began to kick in, along with his Observation Haki. 

Both types of Haki grew faster under stress. While tanking punchs, kicks, and red blasts of energy, his Armament Haki slowly strengthened. From his constant use of Observation Haki, he was able to better predict where and when she would strike.

Saiyans in Dragon Ball had a unique ability to grow during combat, especially when they were losing. Their ridiculous stamina and vitality was never to be underestimated, as they would keep getting back up after being floored. Akros showed this resilience as he took many debilitating attacks to head, gut, and chest. Yet he continued to recover from his pain, gritting his teeth and trying again. 

He could enter Super Saiyan to make things easier, but he had great hesitation using the skill. Not only would it reduce his growth, but the rage factor made it dangerous when allies were nearby. If the power of the Deadly Sin of Wrath corrupted him, there was no telling if he would be able to maintain his sanity. 

Akros was finally able to dodge a haymaker to his left cheek, leaning back just in time. He kicked out with both legs while Eon was stunned by his movement, pushing her back a few dozen feet. She didn't take much damage but was shocked by the fact that she missed, hovering still for a moment. She snarled viciously and resumed her assault. 

As the war behind them raged, Eon and Akros traded blows. He struggled to dodge her attacks because she began to throw several at a time. If she missed one kick the other leg would sweep over and nail his head. If she missed a jab she'd blast him with explosion magic. He could only land a hit when she let herself open. 

Their fight basically became a boxing match, and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Eon was full of power and rage seeming to be without fatigue. Akros regenerated his bruises and muscle tears. He was on the losing side and was tiring, yet he had never felt so alive. At some point he laughed joyously enraging the blood angel further.

"Are you mad?! How dare you laugh in the face of your destruction?!" Eon roared in confusion and anger. She spit a gob of golden blood to the side then resumed her battle posture. Akros stopped laughing, but was still grinning underneath his mask. 

"You don't understand," Akros said smoothly, contrasting his heavy breathing from under his mask. He unequipped his mask, revealing his perverse smile with blood dripping from his lips. "I haven't... fought a tough opponent in so long! This is most refreshing!" 

"You have lost your mind..." Eon could not help but mutter her disbelief at this ridiculous statement. She was not a young angel, and was very accustomed to demonic behavior. Yet this demon was very odd. Not only were his wings flightless without magic, but he seemed to enjoy their brawl even though he was at a disadvantage.

For a dominion angel to promote to throne, they had to complete a trial akin to a demon lord trial. Rather, a lone angel would have to brave the hordes of the middle Abyss or lower. The upper Abyss lacked the environment to allow a dominion angels' inner light to grow and promote. Eon had slew countless middle-rank demons during her promotion trial, and had learned much about demonic magic and fighting styles. 

She refocused and flew at Akros again, looming over him and throwing a left punch. Akros failed to block or dodge in time due to his fatigue, and caught her fist with his gut. He plummeted downward towards the ground, but at the last second he slowed his descent with a flare of shadow energy from his wings. He landed on his feet with a booming thud, shaking the earth around him. With his gem/gold armor he weighed about 4 tons, most of the weight coming from the magnate ruby.

When Eon landed in front of him, he covered his arms with Haki and tried to grapple her. Unfortunately for him she predicted this move and intercepted his arms by the wrists. Yet still she had to strain against his strength, which perplexed the blood angel. Wasn't she manhandling him before? Why is he getting stronger as they fight? Questions arose in her mind, taking away from her focus. 

Akros used this opportunity to stab her right leg with his tail, taking away her balance. He reeled her in with his bound arms and smashed his Haki-coated forehead against hers, creating a loud bang. Eon stumbled backward from the blow, but recovered from her damage in a mere second. The next moment she stepped on his tail blade to pin him down, or tried to.

His observation Haki continued to grow in its predictability power, so much so that it allowed him to nearly see the future of what was happening near his body. He retracted his tail before her boot touched its armor. With a grunt he used the momentum of his tail moving to twist around and smash Eon's chin with a roundhouse kick. 

"Urgh!" She stumbled from the hit holding her jaw briefly in pain. She responded with a blast to his chest, sending him flying backwards once more. She grit her teeth angrily as she realized that melee wasn't enough to subdue him, and focused her magic. "Foul demon! I shall do this world a favor by ridding of you!"

"Puh!" Akros spit out a gob of his own blood as he stood. He noticed that she was charging an attack of some kind, and felt immense danger from it.

He needed to end this battle soon regardless of the excitement from his blood cells. There was zero chance he could pull off Charm on a being who was much stronger than him and very pissed. Bringing her to the Shadow Realm was also out of the question as he long lost the element of surprise and lacked the power to pull her down from the ground. Cursing under his breath, he activated his ace in the hole.

"HAAAAGH!!" A golden aura exploded around Akros. His black hair which was already spiky in shape spiked upward. His muscles bulged against his armor and his mind became cloudy as the rage settled in. It was an endless indomitable hunger that would only be sated by the destruction of everything around him. If he maintained this state for too long his mind would be lost forever. He became desperate now to end the battle with this timer over his head.

Eon was shocked by the golden aura at first, blinking in surprise. When she did, Akros' visage vanished without a trace. With her supreme senses of a cherub angel-level existence, she was able to turn her head in time to see Akros appear from behind. His right hand covered in Haki and shadow magic and his left hand casting Abyssal Grasp magic to hold Eon down. Once his fist hit her cheek, the shadows covering his hand burst out and destroyed her entire body, leaving her soul in the open for a brief second. 

Her body regenerated around her soul in a seconds' time, preventing it from decaying. However, the cost of regeneration was far from light for Eon. She was healthy physically, but she was deathly exhausted and dry on mana. Blood angels were fuses waiting to go off, once their soul was exposed from their body it would decay rapidly. To regenerate at a speed to prevent this from happening took an enormous toll on Eon. While she did regenerate in time, she couldn't restore her stamina nor her magic energy. 

She collapsed to her knees in front of the now powered down Akros, who was heaving for air. The inner fury was suffocating, he could not escape from it soon enough. He deactivated Super Saiyan immediately following the destruction of Eon's body. He didn't want to follow her example and sacrifice his life for power. 

However, he had an idea. Eon seemed to still have time left before her soul decayed naturally from the blood oath. Now that she was lifeless on her knees and barely conscious, he licked his lips and unequipped his armor and clothing. Eon had one eye shut as she fought to stay awake and upright. Her height caused her to be right at eye level with his flaccid penis.

"Wha...?" Eon had seen enough naked male demons to know what this body part was for. After overcoming her original surprise, both of her eyes went wide. "You cannot possibly think of doing this to me, a six-winged blood angel!"

Akros did not respond. He was studying her translucent gold skin, reminiscent of Querrlya and Iris'. She had an ethereal immortal body, but her lips seemed solid enough. She must have vocal cords or something to let her speak, which implied she had a throat. A throat he could slide his shaft down.

But before he could get that far, several angry cries from other angels came from around him as dozens of two-winged and four-winged angels came to the rescue of their commander. Akros scoffed, grabbing Eon and diving into the Shadow Realm. The angels came to an abrupt stop in the air as they tried to detect where they had gone with no luck.

"Now that we're alone..." Akros smacked his cock against Eon's angry but flushed face. She felt deeply humiliated by this motion, even more so at the fact that part of her wanted this. Deep in her mind she remembered that shadow demons descended from the King of Lust, but this didn't register in her tired, somewhat lustful conscious. He slid his hardening tube across her face, rubbing it on her hair, lips, and nose to let her get the scent of lavender that came off his meat. 

"I wonder if you can fall now that you've taken the blood oath... let's see if my cum can do anything to slow the decaying of your soul..." He thought out loud, rubbing his tip against her soft lips. She kept her jaw shut tight in defiance, but the lustful aura coming off his manhood was extremely potent. She felt part of her wanted to kiss it, and to her horror her body was slowly getting excited. Her breathing gradually hastened and she felt the desire grow as the contact with his shaft continued.

Even after modifying Charm to be an active skill, the passive never truly disappeared. It was instead reduced from his whole body to his genitals, meaning once a female touch them she would be tempted. Depending on the willpower of the female, they would become his slave instantly or be able to retain control while being turned on. The latter described Eon's current predicament. 

"Come on, you know you want to," Akros said with a sly smirk. Eon's conflicted expression told him everything he needed to know. As long as he kept prodding her, she'd give in eventually. She couldn't talk back either, if she opened her mouth then only one thing could happen...

The final nail in her coffin was when he placed his balls on her face. The musky odor combined with the lavender scent was too powerful. Her body went limp as she floated in the Shadow Realm, and she let him pull her head up by her hair. She forgot about the disgrace falling upon her and instead began licking and smooching his tip. 

"Ooh, your tongue is something else," Akros said in a low, husky voice. Her lip and tongue work, while very inexperienced, felt amazing. Eon opened wide and gobbled up a few inches of his now rock-hard erection. He threw his head back with a groan at the sensation of her mouth. It was very warm like a hot tub. 

Not so hot it hurt, but just enough to hit the spot. Uriel's angelic throat had felt similar, yet cooler in temperature. Perhaps because she was a dominion angel, and was far weaker back then compared to this cherub-level blood angel. 

"Fuck..." He swore with grit teeth. Eon noticed how much he enjoyed her sucking on his pipe, so she kept at it. It tasted oddly good to her. She grabbed his thighs to pull him closer and slid his cock further into her mouth and down her throat. With the size difference between them, she had no issue fitting his entire penis in her oral cavity. She slurped on him hungrily, even vacuuming his balls into her cheeks. 

Akros roared madly in response to the overwhelming pleasure. The warmth, suction, and the fact that she was getting all of him at once was driving him crazy. Even Lilith's deepthroating couldn't compare to this. While she had technique, the heat of Eon's throat was unparalleled. Angels constantly radiated heat, how could her mouth not be warm?

Eon didn't know what she was doing to say the least. She didn't know that one typically bobbed their head during fellatio, so she kept her nose pressed against his pelvis for several minutes while slobbering and sucking on his genitals. She made a mess, getting saliva all over her face and hair. However, the seduction aura had fully corrupted her mind. The sinful lust she was partaking of was now the best thing she had ever experienced in her life. 

Unlike Iris however, Eon did not fall from angelhood easily. Blood angels were generally a stronger type of angels, which included a stronger resistance to falling. Akros was not the first demon to attempt this, as many demon lords had attempted to make a blood angel fall. None were successful as they were unable to understand what made them crack. Even though she was willingly slopping over his balls and cock, Eon did not fall quickly at all. Only after a few minutes did noticeable changes appear in her appearance.

Her golden armor and skin gradually paled. Her skin became skeletal white and misty, while her armor became glossy silver. The parts of her that were blood red remained that way. The angel characters in her armor glowed red, creating a stark contrast with her light shaded armor. Her bodily curves didn't actually change much. Her bottom half was already very pronounced at showed zero growth. Her chest did swell slightly, enough for Akros to feel with his legs, but not enough to push her breastplate out like Iris' bosom.

The most drastic change was her magical presence. Instead of feeling explosive and angry, her aura seemed to stabilize and solidify as an even larger and denser magic power aura. Akros was so stunned that his mind drifted from the deepthroat he was receiving and took a moment to appreciate her increase in power.

This magic aura is ridiculous! She may be at the mid-cherub level! Before she was just barely stronger than Querryla, who's now an upper-throne level fallen angel. Let's hope I can keep her loyal, otherwise she could kill my ladies with relative ease. Only Querrlya and Iris can put up a fight with this monster of a woman-

"Urgh! This is sublime! Eon, you were made for this!" Akros moaned loudly. Eon hummed happily into his meat, sending shivers along his spine. It was at this point he hit his limit. "E-Eon, I can't hold it any longer!"

"Mmff gmf mmf hhmm mmmm! (Then give it to me!)" Eon locked eyes with him, the longing very clear in her red orbs. The telltale hearts where there as well, letting Akros know he had her hooked. With this relief in his heart he let his seed flood down her esophagus. She didn't have to swallow as it went past her mouth and into her stomach from her lower neck. Eon continued to suck hard on his balls, milking out more semen than what was meant to come out. His scrotum shrank as his leftover sperm migrated to her stomach.

One minute full of exhausted groans and erotic slurping later, Akros was out of stock. His storage of semen and sperm was completely empty until his body naturally began producing more. Before Eon could greedily suck more out, Akros gently slid her lips off his softening rod. With a wet pop, his little brother was free from the now fully fallen blood angel's abyss of a mouth. 

"Akros, don't tell me that's all you have~" Eon's voice was wrought with lust. She wiped her lips and slid up to his face level to stare into his purple eyes. "Can't you give me more~?"

"Um..." For the second time in his life, Akros was at a loss during a sexual encounter. Usually he led, the only time this was overwritten was when Lilith dominated him. Now he had a horny fallen angel who could break him in half asking for more semen, after literally sucking him dry. He averted his eyes awkwardly. "No, actually. Eon, you drank all of my sexual fluids."

"Whaaaat? Lame," Eon huffed, puffing her cheek out in a surprisingly adorable fashion. "I wanted more of your delicious seed."

"Maybe later, after I recuperate..." Akros sighed. He was quite spent after the brawl, going Super Saiyan, and now this. While the immense pleasure had taken his mind off of the latent fury left inside from the power up, his now post-climax mental state could think of one thing: sleep. However, the war was still ongoing in the real world, and he could not risk losing any of his precious women in the carnage. 

Via Shadow Brand he knew they were all still stable, but that didn't inform him of the other demons' situation. He didn't want to lose his entire army for two fallen angels, even if they were greatly powerful. He spent 50 years racking up this force with Pheom after all, he had to prioritize them somewhat.

Akros cuddled with Eon while he regained his stamina, as well as placing a Shadow Brand on her during that time. She cooed at the magic tattoo around her neck, thanking him with a deep kiss. As a newly fallen angel, she was far from a good kisser. Akros rested while teaching her the essentials of locking lips. 

He could see the real world above him somewhat through the Shadow Realm's surface above him. It was like looking through water, everything was distorted and wavy. From what he could make out, the angels were dropping like flies. Without Iris and Eon providing mass revive support, once they died they were gone for good. Many of their souls were eaten right away by demons, but most of them were stored away. All of the demons had to share a portion of their soul harvest with Akros.

At this point in the battle, the elven and human armies had been overrun. While they had reduced the numbers of the low-rank demons significantly it only took a handful of high-rank demons to reduce them to ash. Swathes of hellfire and other magics such as lightning and water annihilated the infantry ranks. Elemental demons at high-rank typically learned other types of magic beside their bloodline type. As commanders of demon armies, they learned enhancement magic to improve the capabilities of their underlings to win battles indirectly. One high-rank demon cast a haste spell over several hundred low-rank demons at once, giving them a great edge. With this power the elves, dwarves, and humans were quickly massacred.

The dragon force still ran rampant. Even though his elite force was steadily cutting them down, there was still over a hundred of each specie still in the battlefield. It took several middle-rank demons to kill one green dragon, even more for an emerald or gold dragon. 

Emerald dragons were the promoted form of green dragons that had lived for long enough. Gold dragons were unique and possessed a potent brand of flametongue. Their breath was magic fire that laid waste to all it touched. In early ages, dragon breath was feared by humans and other lower lifeforms because it was used to destroy their settlements. 

The titans were a different story. Lyra was doing most of the work fighting them with the help of void creatures. Void corruption increased the physical strength and magic power of any lifeform it infected. Void titans easily toppled the uninfected, allowing Lyra to push the titans back after corrupting several dozen titans. Uriel and Hilda stopped fighting titans at to go aid the demons fighting dragons at Lyra's command. 

Along with them were Iris and Querrlya, who in their scorn for dragonkin, targeted the scaled beasts from the beginning. They made sure to identify themselves as they joined ranks with the five members of Akros' elite force who were leading the demons against the dragons along with many high-rank demons. Dragon souls were quite potent, so powerful demons sought them out.

Titan souls were also highly valued, but no demon dared get near Lyra and her void creatures. She was often seen by Akros' side more so than the other female demons and fallen angels. With that knowledge the more intelligent demons considered her as Akros' first mistress, and treated her with great respect. On top of that, she was a powerful dominion angel who was steadily growing in power via consuming depravity-filled semen from her lover. Even the demons who loathed fallen angels for being angels had to acknowledge her strength. Out of fear and respect the alias "Angel of Corruption" spread among the ranks of middle and high-rank demons.

When Akros reentered the mortal realm with Eon, all hell broke loose. Demons gave deafening roars upon the sight of their general with a six-winged fallen blood angel. Or as Akros called her, a 'fury'. He disliked using so many adjectives, and the name was fitting. 

Blood angels were angels who in their rage cast aside everything to fell a certain enemy. Calling her a 'fallen blood angel' was inefficient compared to saying 'fury'. He ran over this with Eon while they were still in the Shadow Realm, confusing her at first. 

"You know, I don't feel angry towards you anymore," Eon said quietly. "While I don't appreciate the fact that I fell victim to your seduction, I can however appreciate you prolonging my life. If not for you my soul would've been reduced to nothing... although you angered me in the first place that doesn't matter now, I'm over it. I would be willing to work with you in the future."

"Great to hear, but first," Akros placed a Shadow Brand on her collar, making her hum curiously. He explained it in a simple fashion. "This magic tattoo allows me to track you and warp to you through the Shadow Realm, which we are currently in. I can sense your soul's wellbeing as well, so I'll know if you're in peril."

"Oh? You care so much for an angel who was beating you down just minutes ago?" Eon tilted her in confusion. "You're an odd one. You don't follow the usual thinking of demons much either. You branded a being who is more powerful as your own after having oral sex with them... you're really just different from the rest, huh?"

"..." Akros didn't know how to respond to that. Eon hit the nail on the head, making him quite uncomfortable. "Let's just go."

With his armor re-donned and Eon at his side, Akros roared triumphantly rallying his troops. Morale plummeted among the alliance army after realizing that Akros had corrupted all three of the throne angels in the army, greatly decreasing their power while increasing his own. 

"Akros, you don't mind if I, uh, you know..." Eon glanced at the angels struggling against the demons with sympathy. The sorrowful look on her face told him everything he needed to know.

"I had no intention of asking you to do that, although you don't really need my permission," Akros said coolly. "You are more powerful than me in my base state. Really we should be co-leaders of this demon army now-"

"No," Eon cut him off abruptly with a sad but hopeful smile. "Without my heavenly vows and orders, I don't know what to do. I don't mind taking orders from you. You managed to defeat me, from there it was either my soul withered to nothing or it was eaten. Truthfully, I... I've always wanted to experience a romantic relationship that mortals often speak of."

"Eon..." Akros was stunned for a moment. First Pheom, a succubus, wants romance. Now an angel? Maybe his charm aura was simply so potent he made lustful or non-lustful entities desire his affection? Or was it because he was more considerate, loving, respectful, and forgiving than most demons? He had a hard time figuring out women, so he didn't stop to theorize. "...let's talk more about us later. We have hostiles approaching."

A few dozen angels including several four-winged commanders were rushing towards them from the sky. Witnessing their leaders, the three throne angels in charge of the angel army, fall was nothing short of heartbreaking. They felt great despair for the throne angels as people, but also for themselves as they knew they were no match. With the power of depravity, angels grew in might after falling. Eon fell as a blood angel, now not even Querrlya stood a fair fight. 

However, amidst their dread they also felt seething rage and hatred for Akros. This motivated them to at least try to kill him, even if they were slew. What other purpose did they serve now? Their generals turned against them. The demons would quickly slay every angel in the battle. The only thing awaiting them was death, so they would embrace it. The angels cried out in despair and anger as they drew nearer to the shadow demon.

Eon shut her eyes tight and covered her ears as Akros raised a single hand toward the oncoming angels. A thick, palpable red energy coated his palm. Suddenly the group of angels was crushed into the ground. Those who survived the sudden impact of enormous force were unable to lift a finger as Shadow Bullets bit into their skulls.

"Too easy," Akros blew mock smoke from his fingertip. Eon timidly opened an eye to see the aftermath, only to catch a glimpse of Akros collecting the holy souls with Vacuum. Akros didn't fail to catch her uncertainty with Observation Haki. "Eon, I know this is hard for you to see. You should aid my other fallen angels. They're tackling the dragons, the largest remaining part of the alliance army. Go!"

Eon pursed her lips anxiously. "I have no weapon though..."

"...shit, my bad," Akros retrieved her angelic spear from his inventory. He couldn't wield the weapon as it rejected his demon flesh through his armor, so he had no regrets giving it back to her. To his surprise, once the spear fell under her grasp, it fell and changed in aura and appearance to fit her. In other words, the angelic spear became a spear fitting of a fury. The gold became silver while white became red. 

"Thank you, Akros," Eon hugged her spear tightly with a smile. He stared for a moment, not that he could see but to make her aware of their surroundings. She looked down at him with confusion, then saw the angel corpses behind him. "Right! Sorry!"

She flew in the direction of the dragons as Akros sighed to himself. "She's a bit... shy. Quite odd considering how angry and loud she got before. Oh well."

He went to work cleaning up the rest of the angels. There was only a thousand left, and without any six-winged angels they couldn't hold a candle to Akros. He wiped them out with the high-rank demons who lived this far. All of the middle-rank demons fell to four-winged angels, along with some of the high-rank demons.

Soon enough, the only alliance forces left were the dragons. The humans and elves had long perished, and the titans were all slew by their corrupted brethren or Lyra. The 200 or so dragons that remained became extremely nervous as the last race alive. A few gold dragons broke off to retreat and warn the rest of the alliance of the danger of Akros' army but mostly himself. 

The gold dragon who lead the force of dragons was eventually felled by Hellreaver's edge, and became its food. The dragons were vanquished, leaving only demons and fallen angels on the battlefield. The conflict was won, but the war was only beginning. 

Not a single low-rank demon survived the carnage. Although many were alive after the human and elven armies were slain, they were obliterated by despairing dragons. The middle-rank demons only had 2,000 survivors. Most of the High-rank demons lived, as there was still 140 of them.

After collecting and distributing souls, Akros decided to return to Vrathe for reinforcements. That was the reasoning he gave to the high-rank demons under his command, but in reality he was planning to leave the Asha and return to the Abyss. This world was far too dangerous to stay in. If the angels could afford to send an army with three throne angels to combat an army of Akros' size, surely more powerful angels awaited in this world's heaven. 

Logically speaking, he shouldn't attempt his promotion trial in this world due to the threat of more six-winged angels. He couldn't enter the Shadow Realm without an actual shadow to dive into, so he was at a great disadvantage in a realm where light shined over everything. However, he couldn't deny his temptation. Stronger angels meant stronger fallen angels if he could corrupt them. 

Akros was steadily putting together his Shadow Legion, now with 6 fallen angels and 9 demons including himself. He had a few more demons in mind to add as well. Pheom was an obvious pick, as she already chased Akros' heart and was a powerful high-rank succubus. Another charmer would be very helpful as Akros could only use Charm on female beings. 

In a world he had long been absent from, more candidates awaited him. Beta was the first woman he met as a demon that treated him as a man, and cracked his cold heart open. Delta was a hard tsundere who could become a valuable sniper or gunner among his legion. Even though demons were unable to construct firearms and other advanced human technology, Akros could. 

Aside from these two, there were another possible pick among the guardians of the Tomb of Nazarick. Albedo was already a demon, but she lacked potential. As an artificial demon, she lacked the ability to grow. Akros estimated that she was at the level of high-rank when he first met her as a low-rank demon, but that may not be the case now. After seeing high-rank demons in action and comparing them to Albedo from the anime, he suspected she may be middle-rank.

Akros thought about all of this as his forces returned to Vrathe over the next week. During this time, the 7 middle-rank demons of his legion kept condensing their magic power. The three new fallen angels spent time getting to know the rest of the crew, at some point during this period Akros realized the charm on Iris wore off. 

He was spooked at first, not wanting a fallen throne angel on the loose. However, the presence of Eon and Querrlya seemed to make it bearable for her. They talked Iris through what happened slowly, letting her cope with what she had done. In the end, she reluctantly accepted her new role as part of Akros' elite force. Yet the dirty looks she shot him made him feel a tad guilty. 

He greatly disliked using Charm for this reason. Trust between demons was virtually nonexistent. Akros was the only trustworthy demon that any of his forces knew, especially Pheom who was the oldest demon among them. Querrlya was the oldest overall as she had lived as an angel for over a thousand years. 

Most throne angels and demon lords were already several centuries or a millennium old before they promoted. Due to this, everyone besides the 7 demons from Askr and Lyra assumed Akros had lived for many centuries. Little did they know, he was a mere 51 years old. Mentally he was 68 thanks to his human life.

Querryla, Eon, and Iris asked Akros many questions during that time. They acknowledged Akros as the leader of this demon unit and as an extremely powerful foe, so they obeyed his orders without complaint. Except for one particular redhead. 

"For the last time, Iris! You can't seriously expect me to allow that!" Akros growled, butting heads with the taller fallen angel. His helmet was off, so they were able to stare each other down. 

"Why not?! You killed my brethren, why can't I kill yours?!" Iris shouted back. 

Many of the demons in his army were sick of her poor attitude. Such pompous remarks would usually result in death in demon society. However, they knew that a fallen throne angel such as Iris was very precious. Akros was a legend in their minds for being able to corrupt an angel at a higher level than himself. They knew he would hesitate greatly to rid of her, so the demons tried to ignore her to the best of their ability. 

Querrlya and Eon made sure the others gave the two room as they argued. They were all somewhat annoyed with her, but most of them had some sympathy. Enyo, Neiro, Hecate, and Luane had lost their memories of their human lives, so they could only remember being under Akros. Uriel was similar, unable to remember her life as an angel.

Everyone else beside Lyra were products of Akros' ambition, while Lyra was a product of his compassion. They had no choice in joining his side. Even after he converted them to demons/fallen angels they had no chance of escape or fighting back, so they were obedient. After years of service to him, they grew fond of their master and his benevolent affection for them. Eon and Querrlya had already warmed up to him slightly during the march to Vrathe.

"How does that even make sense?!" Akros roared up at her. "Besides, what do you gain from this?! There is no profit in killing my forces! Especially for such petty reasoning!"

"Petty?!" Iris could barely hold in her rage at his words. Her magic aura flared as she retorted: "Not as petty as you trying to surround yourself with women! How desperate are you?!"

"What was that?" Akros' magic aura exploded. Everyone besides the three six-winged fallen angels was suffocated by the dark energy swelling around his form. The air seemed to distort and his figure became blurry. Even the three dominion fallen angels could barely stand. The march was brought to a grinding halt. Morwen, having angered Akros in the past, sighed pitifully for Iris as she was forced to kneel from the magic pressure.

The redhead gulped in fright, realizing she took it too far. She remembered that even though he was still high-rank due to his golden power up that she saw during his fight with Eon, Iris was far weaker than him. She silenced her magic aura and knelt on one knee in front of him with her head down. 

"Forgive me, Your Excellency Akros. I spoke too much-" 

"Indeed you have. Now take the hint and shut your trap."

Iris shakily nodded, earning a heavy sigh from the shadow demon. He reeled in his magic power, releasing the pressure from his forces. 

"On your feet, all of you! We still have a long way to go!" Akros bellowed outward to address all of the demons present. 

The rest of the march was relatively quiet. Akros kept his helmet off allowing irritated face to be seen. Iris, while feeling humiliated, kept her mouth shut out of fear. Demons were a crude and malicious race. If she kept pushing him, she might experience horrors beyond her imagination. Just the thought of such things made her terrified. 

Meanwhile, Akros wasn't actually angry with Iris. She had good reason to be angry with him, and made a good point. What was he doing? Every time he thought about his Shadow Legion in the making, he used the logic of 'I can use Charm on any of them in case of emergency'. After Iris called him out on it, he couldn't help but doubt himself. Was this really the right way of doing this? Would surrounding himself with women make him look perverted and pathetic? 

I miss having Lyra in my head sometimes. Having her read my mind, console me on my exact thoughts and pains. What would she say in this scenario...?

The fallen angel in question was quite concerned over her lover. His expression had gradually shifted from one of frustration, with Iris she assumed, to one of anxiety. Lyra hated to see him like this. Akros was usually quite sure of himself thanks to his strategic mind and backup skills that could turn tables. Whenever he had doubts like this, it meant something was truly troubling him. 

"Amin?" Lyra's soft voice snapped Akros out of his thoughts. He looked down at her with surprise as she held his hand. They were walking along with the army, but at a slow pace for him due to many middle-rank demons having shorter legs. That also allowed Lyra to keep up with him even though his legs were over a foot longer. 

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" Akros huffed. Lyra merely smiled in response.

"Even after 50 years, you still respond to that name," She squeezed his hand gently and kissed the back of it. "It relieves me to know a little bit of your original self still lives."

"...whatever. Is that all you wanted to talk about?" His tail flicked in irritation, as he wasn't in the mood for reconciliation at the moment. He tried to pull his hand away, but Lyra held it firmly. Akros blinked in brief surprise, then met her gaze again. "Lyra?"

"You're having... doubts, aren't you? What happened?"

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"H-how did you...?"

"I know you, dummy. I haven't spent 50 years on your dick for nothing."

"I, ugh, don't say it like that. You're not my concubine... wait."

"Am I your concubine now?" Lyra's voice reeked of sarcasm.

"No, not you," Akros came to a realization. Perhaps his image wouldn't fall because of his group of women. Perhaps... having so many 'concubines' made him more respectable? With his heritage, he could easily justify it. In fantasy he had read as a human, many significant men in older ages had several wives as a sign of their power. With this logic set in his mind, he felt much better. He smiled at Lyra warmly. "I got it now. Thanks, babe."

"Don't give me that smile..." Lyra whined weakly. She had become a sucker for Akros' toothy grins, genuine smiles, his facial expressions in general. His face was rather humanoid, unlike the hideous faces of many male demons. Lyra loved him and his expressive face dearly. She had a bashful smile and a slight blush as she averted her eyes from his face.

"Hahahaha! You're too cute!" Akros laughed happily, leaning over to kiss her. She giggled and pulled him in. They didn't make out for long though, as they were used to having to deal with the company of others.

Uriel, Hilda and Ulvone could care less. They knew they were already in Akros' heart, so they had no reason to be jealous. With the exception of Iris, everyone else was quite envious. Especially Galadriel and Okami, who longed to feel his touch again. Or at least in a sexual way. Akros was always happy to show his affection for them, but they wanted more. All of them did. It was simply worse for Galadriel and Okami because they had both had oral sex with him as humans. It hurt to lose something you once had much more than to long for it in the first place.

The two middle-rank demons felt an unbearable urge to leap on him, but the setting was unfavorable. It always was. They never got the chance to get him by himself naturally, and they were nervous to ask for the entirety of his attention. He was much more than a love interest at this point. His power, love, and intelligent mind made him an idol to all of the women around him. 

Iris wasn't blind to this, even as she sulked. The way he interacted with Lyra was shocking to the six-winged beauty, defying her known behaviors of demons. No demon was loving. No demon should care for another without a hidden motive. So how could Akros laugh with Lyra so earnestly? It perplexed her greatly, made her think deeper about her judgement of Akros as a demon. 

When Akros and his troops made it back to Vrathe, he was surprised to see the high number of low-rank demons camping outside the walls. Had Pheom already filled the city's interior with demons? Akros had only been gone for around a month or so. As his force came closer, the low-rank demons gathered in a crowd to see them arrive. They parted to make way for them, before many shrieks of terror rang out. The sight of three six-winged fallen angels made them think they were having hallucinations. 

Akros raised the city's gate with a snap of his fingers. The shadow stone created by him obeyed his will. As he entered Vrathe, letting the gate fall after the last of his units passed under, he was taken aback by the state of the city. It was bustling with middle and high-rank demons, more populated than ever. Akros dismissed the demons not of his personal unit to rest, while he marched to the throne hall. Something was up, and he needed to know. Pheom couldn't have possibly summoned all these demons by herself.

Akros entered the large building, and to his surprise and anger an unknown high-rank demon was sitting on the throne. He appeared to be some type of war demon judging by his large build and warhammer that leaned on the throne. On the other side of the throne was Pheom, who seemed equally surprised to see Akros. 

"Akros?!" The succubus exclaimed, rushing towards him with disbelief written on her face. "You're alive?!"

"Do I look dead to you?" Akros grumbled, pushing her away when she tried to hug him. "Who's the douche sitting on my throne?"

"Your throne?" The war demon asked in confusion, standing up. "I was told the previous ruler and creator of this city died by scouts."

"I'm right here, so step off. While you're at it, tell me what those scouts told you."

"Not so fast," The war demon grabbed his hammer and stomped towards Akros. "Prove to me you are the previous ruler of- ghack!"

Hellreaver pierced through the demon's chest, cleanly penetrating through his ribs, heart, lungs, and left wing. The demon couldn't speak as his body dissolved into red energy that was drank by Hellreavers' blade. It glowed for a moment before the entire sword grew by a centimeter.

"Fool," Akros spat. He wiped the throne off with shadow magic, purging it of any grime without damaging the material. He then sat down and beckoned Pheom to come closer. The members of his unit gathered around him, curious of what Pheom had to say. "Pheom! Tell me, why did you not protect my throne? You are not weak. You should have taken it for yourself."

"I thought myself unworthy, if I'm being honest," The pink-haired succubus said anxiously, feeling the stares of the other women. The three six-winged angels were terrifying, mostly the red one. The others she was quite familiar with, but even after 50 years of sharing company they still didn't exactly like her. They saw her making moves on Akros so frequently it convinced them that she was trying to take him for herself.

"The demon who you just killed was more powerful than me. When he came to take control and brought more troops, I could only save myself. He wanted to bed me, but I refused. Fortunately I was nimble enough to escape his attempts to push me down," Pheom heaved a sigh. "He stopped trying after the third day. From then on, I just kept summoning demons. But only low-rank demons, so I don't have to contract with them. I see how my contracts with the demons I summoned for you have all disappeared, making my contract with you the last active one. What happened out there?"

"Met a large army consisting of angels, dragons, titans, humans, and elves. It seems the races have made an alliance against us. May be my fault, or another demon's. What reports do you have of the other demon leaders?" Akros tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne in thought. 

"They're terrorizing the inhabitants of the lands. One of them ventured into the elven kingdom, following a path of destruction. Apparently there was a massive lava lake they came across that seemed to made magically. Any clue of what that was?" Pheom replied.

"Oh, that was me."

"Huh?! But-"

"But what?"

"The leader of that demon army told me via magic mirror that the lava lake was miles wide! How did you, a shadow demon, do that?!"

"I'm unique. You know this."

"I- argh. Whatever..."

"Also, why were you surprised to see me?" Akros' eyes narrowed dangerously, making Pheom's breath hitch. "Were you planning on my death or something?"

"No no no! I just thought it was unlikely you'd survive-"

"Survive what?"

"Oh, I don't know, those?!" Pheom pointed at the throne angels in exasperation. "How did you fight throne angels and survive?! How did you make these three fall?! She even looks like a blood angel! Explain!"

"I do not need to explain anything to you," Akros said coldly, making her take a step back frightfully. "If you want to become one of my maidens, Pheom, you need to ask less questions. I do not appreciate those who are nosy. Now, let us fulfill our contract. I am ready to leave this world." 

"Wait, don't you still have contracts with demons other than these gals?" Pheom asked carefully. 

"So what if I do? They die and I'm free to go. I'm sure Iris here would love to kill some demons for me," Akros smirked at said fallen angel, who was surprised by the offer but quickly nodded. "See? No issues. Now let me brush your hair, it looks messy."

Over the next few days, Akros fulfilled his contracts with Pheom, Ulvone, and his 7 middle-rank demons. He also contacted Hekal during this time, checking up to see how the leader of the first demon city was faring. Hekal actually promoted to demon lord while Akros was gone. He knew Akros was at the peak of his rank, so he generously informed him of the state of Asha's heaven. 

"Many of the angels have been deployed recently to combat the demon invasion," Hekal's voice came through a crystal orb. It was a relic that Pheom used to contact other demon leaders in this world. "There wasn't many angels in heaven at all. I fought against around a thousand of them, but there were no six-winged angels. Did you encounter any during your invasion? I find it odd they left heaven wide open."

"I did indeed. Three throne fallen angels -well one's a cherub now-  joined of my forces," Akros said confidently. Hekal gasped over the lacrima.

"Impossible! How could you-"

"Hey, Eon! Come here!" Akros called out to the fury who had been eavesdropping from outside his bedchamber door. She timidly entered the room, fiddling with her fingers. "Speak through this relic and tell Hekal who and what you are."

Eon bent over to talk right to the crystal ball, her faces inches away. Hekal could see through the lacrima like a Skype call, and could see Eon clearly. His face was plastered with shock, making her giggle. "Greetings, Demon Lord Hekal. I am Eon, a fallen blood angel at the cherub level. Akros here was so generous to preserve my life after I took the blood oath. Why the surprised look? Have you never seen one of my kind before?"

"What kind of sick trick is this?" Hekal muttered in awe, his shock replaced by newfound respect for Akros. "Akros, have you already promoted to demon lord? Is that how you managed this?"

"No, I'm still high-rank," Akros grinned, wiggling his four wings. "But that may not be true for long. You said there was no six-winged angels present in heaven when you performed your trial?"

"None. Either I entered a sparsely populated section of this world's heaven, or it's been left seriously understaffed, as the humans say," Hekal chuckled, then he became serious. "I advise caution, Akros. Who knews where you will end up if you attempt the trial now. The angels may have increased the amount of them present in heaven after I promoted."

"How kind of you to warn me!" Akros said gratefully. "I'm surprised, I thought you didn't like me because I challenged your power."

"Truth be told, Akros?" Hekal sighed, looking dead at the crystal. His eyes met with Akros', the latter seeing the stress in the former's. "I'd rather give up my position than lose another powerful demon on the side of destruction. The residents of this world are angry and gathering to push us back. We need as much power as we can get if we are to hold onto our strongholds here."

"I see..." Akros nodded in understanding. "I'll consider my trial. You'll know if I attempt it, because..."

"Yeah, yeah," Hekal snorted. "It'll be hard to miss. Don't die!"

With that, the communication cut off and Eon took off her armor. She laid on the bed next to Akros and snuggled up to him while he put the lacrima on the nightstand. She ran a hand down his chiseled stomach while pushing her breasts onto his head. Her 'skin' was pale white and extremely smooth. 

With an ethereal body, her 'flesh' was still tangible, but it was more like clay. It was malleable in an odd fashion, making it fun for Akros to play with. He didn't hesitate to bury his head in between her mounds and enjoy the smooth and soft warmth of her body.

"He sounds desperate," She said with disdain lacing her voice. "You could promote, and leave this world right after. The repulsive force on you will multiply after you ascend to demon lord, so it would be a sensible excuse."

"Yes..." Akros held in a groan as Eon rubbed his growing tent. "I think I'll do just that. But first, who taught you how to do this?"

"Morwen. She told me you enjoy breasts. H-how do mine feel?" Eon asked, a bit shy. She was still very much a newbie in terms of sexual technique, and wasn't very confident in her ability. 

"Amazing..." Akros said while licking one of her nipples. He guided her hand into his pants, letting her touch his erect member directly. Eon's cheek turned bright red at the sensation, and her eyes became very bashful from his praise. Yet her mind was the opposite of her shy exterior. Secretly, she found herself wanting to hear him compliment her more and more. 

It was becoming an obsession, and was the reason she went to others for sexual advice. She wanted to please him and hear him moan her name, praise her technique and body, and most importantly- fill her up. She learned from Uriel that Akros' semen possessed dense amounts of depravity, which made fallen angels grow in power.

She was cheering mentally while she rubbed his erection and had her boobs played with. Akros was incredibly gentle with her, even though she was immortal. Eon could not help but ask: "My body is immortal, so you can... suck harder. Preferably."

"..." Akros stopped sucking on her tit, letting it fall from his mouth as he gawked at her. Immediately she felt as if she said something wrong.

"I-I mean, it's not a big deal if you-"

"Eon, I didn't take you for that type," Akros grinned lustfully. He sent his pants and boxers to his inventory and let her jack him off fully. "If you want hardcore, well shit, that's what I do best. I simply didn't think you wanted your first time with me to be like that."

"Actually, it's my first time having sex, as in ever," Eon licked her lips at the sight of Akros' pulsing cock. Even though he was a well-equipped, she was able to wrap her fingers around with only one hand. She was larger overall, meaning her curves were also massive. Her bosom wasn't that big compared to her body size, but because she was 12 feet tall her average bust was actually quite enticing. She wasn't like Querryla, Iris, Uriel, and Hilda whose chests swelled after they fell. She was built more like Okami, with little chest, but massive thighs and ass. Akros was a sucker for boobs, but he liked bottom heavy ladies too.

"Oh? Angels don't have reproductive organs until they fall?" 

"Mhm. Angels are not beings of lust like demons, nor do we have a need for procreation. Angels are born from noble souls or created from the Heavenly Forge. I'm sure you've met many artificial angels before."

"Yeah. None of them can fall."

"That's because they have angel cores. They protect their angel host from depravity, but in turn if they are extracted the host dies immediately. Angel cores are hard to extract mid-fight though, so they are usually regarded as a large benefit."

"Ho? That is quite handy..." Akros stopped attacking her breasts and met her loving eyes. She looked at him inquisitively, not knowing why he was staring silently. Eventually he sighed and looked away.

"I uh, made a pun. I guess you didn't catch it."

"What is a pun? How do I catch it?"

"Oh joy."

After a long, awkward discussion during the midst of heated and passionate sex, Eon was updated on mortal language terms and slang. She started cussing as soon as he explained what 'fuck' meant, crying 'fuck me harder, Akky!' at high volumes. Akros felt a bit shameful knowing the others nearby would hear, seeing as all of them were resting in their bedchambers. Akros had kicked out his four maidens temporarily to talk with Hekal.

After he unloaded the first time into the lustful fury, his usual sex gang barged into the room and joined in on the fun. It took an hour, but in the end he was once again milked dry. With his stamina low, his regeneration was weak. His shattered hips took a long time to mend without his ultraspeed regeneration or Ulvone bothering to heal him with magic. 

Two days later, Akros was sitting on his throne alone in thought. He sent the others outside to alert the other demons in Vrathe about to oncoming event while he made his final preparations. The first thing he did was have Morwen teach him deeper knowledge of spatial magic. After that, he went about using his stocked up souls for anything that could make this process safer for him.

Crafanc is an anti-angel weapon that should keep me alive for a long time. My vambraces have a large percentage of holy resist, as does my Haki. 75% and 50%, I think. What else could I possibly prepare for? Spend more souls on my skills to empower them? For once I'm out of ideas... I already have four kinds of magic, a devil fruit power, two types of Haki, crazy strong armor, my mask can create a soundwave, like what else is there? If I have too many abilities I won't be able to use them all, and there'll be no point in having them... oh. Maybe I should compact my skill list? Combine skills? Is that possible? System, can I combine skills and magics?

Yes, at the corresponding price. To combine skills or types of magic, high quality souls will be needed. Fallen, noble, evil, and holy souls will suffice.

The system panel's text made Akros quite excited. He was a simple man, so being able to simplify his abilities by combining them made him very happy. He could only imagine all of the possibilities... thankfully, his imagination was the very fuel of the system.

His first idea was to reduce the drawback of going Super Saiyan. He couldn't do anything about the skill drawing on the Deadly Sin of Wrath, so he went into the Create tab and thought of a new passive skill. He named it "Clairvoyance" and described it as a mental force that reduced negative emotions within himself. Lust, rage, any emotion that could make him lose his judgement. In theory it would help retain his mind during Super Saiyan and Blood Fury, as he expected one or both skills to proc during his promotion trial. 

He didn't trust Hekal all that much, but he made a good point about the angels returning to Asha's heaven after he promoted. It would make sense that the angels would become more vigilant, they would stop demon lords from existing at all costs. No doubt that meant six-winged angels, perhaps even seraphs at the level of demon kings, were stationed in heaven. Akros expected to be forced to deal his strongest cards. That meant he would likely need to be able to maintain Super Saiyan for an extended period of time. 

Akros had no knowledge of how long the promotion trial would take because each demon was different. According to Lyra, the whole point of the trial was to place yourself in an environment that brought out your inner power. For demons and fallen angels, they would visit heaven to empower their inner darkness. For angels, they would visit the Abyss to empower their inner light. 

Some demons had more potential within them, making the process take longer. The stronger the demon was before promoting, the stronger they would be afterward. High-rank demons who rushed and attempted the trial earlier in their lives and at a weaker stage wouldn't need as much time to promote, but they would be significantly weaker than a high-rank demon who spent another century strengthening themselves before promoting. 

That was given the demon survived, of course. The success rate was quite low, which was why so few demon lords existed. Six-winged angels were not always original, naturally born angels from noble souls of mortals. Some of them were artificially created through the Heavenly Forge. That was why many more six-winged angels existed than demon lords, and the worst part was that these fake angels all had cores meaning they were immune to depravity.

Fortunately for Akros, the three six-winged angels he encountered thus far were original angels. Artificial angels had one main flaw- a lack of experience. Angels who worked their way up were more skillful and knowledgeable compared to angels created at a set power. Power could be made, but experience could not. Artificial angels at the higher levels such as dominion or throne weren't allowed to lead armies or large squadrons for this reason. At best they would co-leaders with an original angel so as to have at least one experienced leader.

Akros finished Creating Clairvoyance, then checked his status to see his soul supply and stats situation.

Name: Amin

Race: Demon

Bloodline: Shadow Demon

Demon Name: ...Noval Akros

Form: Adult

Attribute: Dark

Strength: 7,289 (x10 during Super Saiyan) (x5 during Blood Fury)

Speed: 10,060 (x5 during Super Saiyan) (x2 during Blood Fury)

Magic Energy: 47,215 (x2 during Super Saiyan)

Stamina: 7742 (Infinite during Blood Fury)

Vitality: 12,120 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

Souls in Possession: 273,691 Average-grade souls, 7 Noble souls, 1 Soul of Might fragment, 2 Middle-Grade Holy souls

Loaded Materials: Saiyan Blood, Tail Plating, Tremor-Tremor, Crafanc, Clone, Press-Press

Skills: Dark Ascension, Dark Barrier, Charm, Abyssal Tremor, Observation Haki, Mortal Gleam, Solar Flare, Vacuum, Armament Haki, Super Saiyan, Tome Conversion, Shadow Brand, Shadow Bullet, Give Me Lyra, Gleipnir, Metamoran Fusion, Hover, Shadow Melt, Clairvoyance

Magic: Shadow, Shadowflame, Dark Restoring, Abyssal Grasp

Race Ability 1: Soul Peer

Race Ability 2: Demon Blood

Race Ability 3: Soul Devouring Addiction

Talent Ability 1: Undying Spite

Talent Ability 2: Zenkai Boost

Talent Ability 3: Ultraspeed Regeneration

Talent Ability 4: Sexual Attraction

Talent Ability 5: Blood Fury

Wow. I thought I gained a good bit of strength from fighting Eon, but my stats barely changed at all. Perhaps I've reached the bottleneck of my potential as a high-rank demon, and it's truly time for me to promote. System, can you show me which skills are compatible with which? Unless they're all compatible with each other...

Processing Request...

Oh?! Nice!

Hover + Dark Ascension = Dark Transcendence

Gleipnir + Solar Flare = Shadowflame Implosion

Dark Barrier + Armament Haki = Black Sheen

Shadow Bullet + Mortal Gleam = Projectile Beam

Give Me Lyra + Vacuum + Tome Conversion = Production Suction

Shadow Brand + Charm = Dark Seduction

Charm + Metamoran Fusion = Coercive Combination

Abyssal Tremor + Gleipnir = Tectonic Cage

Hover + Dark Ascension + Shadow Melt = Hollow Form

Gleipnir + Shadow Bullet = Implosive Bullet

Observation Haki + Clairvoyance = Apathetic Omniscience

Abyssal Tremor + Armament Haki = Obliteration Armor

Solar Flare + Armament Haki = Burning Body

Woah momma! So many options! Although, there's one issue. System, if I combine two skills into one, can the product still merge with preexisting skills?

Yes. Cost of skill fusion will increase when including fused products.

Okay, not bad. There's no definitions with the skills, but I can roughly guess most of their details. Burning Body should work well with Black Sheen and Obliteration Armor, so why don't I just merge them all for an indestructible armor... no. My defense is already good with my armor and regeneration. Let's settle with just Black Sheen for now.

Akros found that there was a smaller tab under Modify that he never noticed before called Combine. Or perhaps it didn't show up until now. He was pleasantly surprised to see it simply appear in front of his eyes with zero recollection of it being there in the past. Shrugging, he tapped on it and the possible skill combinations showed up again. Now there were "Combine?" buttons with each combo. Without hesitation he tapped on Black Sheen.

He felt something in his body changed as the two skills morphed into one. When he looked at his status again, he confirmed the skill change. Armament Haki and Dark Barrier had vanished. The new skill Black Sheen appeared in his skill list, and his noble soul count lessened by 4. Curiously he looked back to the other system panel with the Combine tab that showed the possible fusions to see it had updated.

Hover + Dark Ascension = Dark Transcendence

Gleipnir + Solar Flare = Shadowflame Implosion

Shadow Bullet + Mortal Gleam = Projectile Beam

Give Me Lyra + Vacuum + Tome Conversion = Production Suction

Shadow Brand + Charm = Dark Seduction

Charm + Metamoran Fusion = Coercive Combination

Abyssal Tremor + Gleipnir = Tectonic Cage

Hover + Dark Ascension + Shadow Melt = Hollow Form

Gleipnir + Shadow Bullet = Implosive Bullet

Observation Haki + Clairvoyance = Apathetic Omniscience

Abyssal Tremor + Dark Sheen = Obliteration Aura

Solar Flare + Dark Sheen = Burning Aura

Looking at it, I don't like the sound of Hollow Form at all. Shadow Melt is good by itself, I'll just go with Dark Transcendence. Hover is not that useful anyways. What was the point of it? An symbol of power? Lilith said it was something like that. In other words, not necessary.

Akros hit the Combine button for Dark Transcendence, but nothing happened. The button didn't disappear, nor did his noble or holy souls. Akros quickly realized that he must not have enough high-quality souls for the system to use, so the conversion simply didn't occur. He took out his Conversion Cube which he hadn't used since before he met Ulvone. He got nostalgia just looking at the item. 

He fed the cube 200 average-grade souls and in return received 2 noble and 2 fallen souls. With these high-quality souls, Akros guessed he would have enough now. He tapped Combine for Dark Transcendence again. Fortunately the system was satisfied with the souls he had, and the prompt disappeared. All of his high-quality souls were consumed, leaving only his average-grade supply and the Soul of Might fragment. Akros still had no idea what it could be used for, as the system never used it for anything nor mentioned it as a high-quality soul.

Suddenly Akros felt a sharp pain from his wings. He cried out in blistering agony as his cracks spread through his crystalline wings. They shattered into microscopic fragments, spilling all over his throne and the floor. When the pain was gone, Akros felt his back with his hands carefully. Upon inspection, he could still feel his wing roots. He could wiggle the small stubs stemming from his shoulder blades consciously. Confused as to why this happened, Akros activated Dark Transcendence to see why it made his wings fall off.

He was pushed off his throne as four ethereal wings of pure dark energy formed outward from his wing stems. They were demonic in shape and were a translucent shade of black. His new wingspan was about 46 feet wide. It was odd for him to see himself with demon wings after years of being propelled by energy. While these new wings were still made of magic particles, they were tangible and held their shape. Akros poked them with his claws to see that they were malleable in a very similar fashion to the bodies of the six-winged fallen angels. 

"Cool..." Akros leapt into the air and spread his wings out. He had made his throne hall quite expansive for decorum sake, so he was far from cramped. However, one flap of his wings sent him crashing through the ceiling and emerging above his throne hall. All of the demons in earshot heard the sound and instinctively whipped around to see the point of origin, only to view a confused Akros studying his broken rooftop. They in turn were quite perplexed. Wasn't he preparing for his promotion trial?

Akros floated in the air without moving, his wings somehow keeping him aloft without movement. By deactivating the skill he let gravity retake hold of him and he fell back down into the hall. He felt a little unsure of the new skill, but it was too late to have regrets. He had no way of dissolving the combination, so he was stuck with Dark Transcendence until he fused it with another skill. 

While pondering about his options, Akros tried using Black Sheen on his hand. Instantaneously his skin was covered by a thin black barrier that was tight to his skin. It was opaque and was malleable to allow movement underneath. He clenched and unclenched his hand curiously, watching and feeling the shield reshape. When his fist was gripped into a fist the barrier fused together where his fingers touched his palms, acting as a powerful adhesive. 

He couldn't pry his fingers apart with his other hand, but when he moved the fingers coated in Black Sheen, they moved freely as the barrier disconnecting to allow them to move. Akros was quite intrigued by this 'smart' barrier. By holding his fist together, his punches would deal more damage. Satisfied with how the skill turned out, Akros looked back at his other options.

Gleipnir + Solar Flare = Shadowflame Implosion

Shadow Bullet + Mortal Gleam = Projectile Beam

Give Me Lyra + Vacuum + Tome Conversion = Production Suction

Shadow Brand + Charm = Dark Seduction

Charm + Metamoran Fusion = Coercive Combination

Abyssal Tremor + Gleipnir = Tectonic Cage

Gleipnir + Shadow Bullet = Implosive Bullet

Observation Haki + Clairvoyance = Apathetic Omniscience

Abyssal Tremor + Dark Sheen = Obliteration Aura

Solar Flare + Dark Sheen = Burning Aura

Akros sat back down on his throne as he thought deeply about which skills to combine. He could picture the details of each product by their names and their ingredients, but he couldn't be sure after seeing Dark Transcendence. He didn't want to change his physical appearance too much or he'd have to change his armor to fit, which would cost extra souls. 

He used the elimination process like he used to on school tests as a human. Some skills were simply not desirable as he liked the ingredient skills separate, so he ignored them. For example, Dark Seduction. It sounded very powerful, and probably consisted of mind control via branding a target. 

However, Akros preferred to keep Shadow Brand as it was. In contrast to how it looked, it was not a leash that he placed on servants. Rather, it was a magic tracking tattoo that kept him updated on the conditions of his precious lady friends. He wouldn't take away their will with charming magic unless he was forced to in a life or death situation.

He also didn't fail to notice how the option to make 'Hollow Form' disappeared entirely. His best guess was that Shadow Melt was not compatible with Dark Transcendence, so the combination was no longer available. Akros didn't plan on going through with Hollow Form anyway, so he shrugged and moved on. 

Production Suction caught his interest. While Vacuum was a good skill by itself, Tome Conversion and Give Me Lyra had long been out of commission. He didn't hesitate to combine the three skills after creating another 6 high-quality souls from 50 average-grade souls each with the Conversion Cube, 3 noble and 3 fallen. 

The fusion was instantaneous, so Akros merely blinked to see his souls disappear from his inventory. In great contrast to his expectations, Production Suction only consumed 1 noble and 1 fallen soul. He expected the skill to have something to do with the creation of items through sucking up materials. Such power should come at a higher cost, he thought.

Curiously he tried out the new skill. A swirling vortex forming from the point of his tail, drawing in dust, magic particles, and shadow stone from the broken ceiling. The whirlpool of air kept sucking in nearby materials for a few seconds before stopping. The substances gathered were compacted tightly in a glowing, uneven orb before being sent to his inventory. Then a prompt from the system appeared before Akros' face, stunning him.

Materials collected: Dust, Solid shadow, Magic particles 

Potential productions (1): Clump of magic crystal

Select a production to produce

What the hell? 

Akros hesitantly brought his finger over the panel and tapped on "Clump of magic crystal". The panel vanished and was replaced by a watermelon sized heap of purple magic crystals held together in jagged shadow stone. He was bewildered at first by the unexpected purpose of Production Suction, but that didn't last long. 

As soon as he came back to his senses, his mind raced. The possibilities of his future productions were endless with this overpowered crafting ability. He could even make magic crystals from magic power left in the air by demons such as himself! What if, during his promotion trial, he absorbed angel corpses, angelic magic power, and more? He could create a mass of angelic power and flesh to use for crafting a body, one he could try fusing with to become a nephilim of sorts. 

Akros loved his demonic body and all of its features, besides one thing. The Infinite Worlds fought against his presence due to his demon body. When he promoted to demon lord, this would become drastically worse. He needed to find a solution, something that would allow him to remain in worlds longer. One option was changing his body to no longer be fully demonic. Either by possessing a new body or fusing with another, there was several options available. Demons were masters of soul manipulation, so Akros knew it wouldn't be hard for him to possess a new body if he needed to in a desperate case. 

His new plan, with the power of Production Suction, was to create an angelic clone to fuse with. Angels and demons were not directly compatible as the holy and dark powers would conflict. Akros would have to use fallen angel constructs for this clone, otherwise the fusion would likely fail or have serious drawbacks. 

Because he knew Production Suction could manifest magic power into magic crystals, Akros had the idea of feeding materials to the Red Sea Egg to actually make his clone in question. He would need to collect fallen angel corpses preferably with their weaponry and armor for extra material along with their holy magic energy. 

With this idea set, Akros was quite thankful for his new skill. His clone plan was only one of many future ideas. If the system allowed him to make special productions, such as ores or materials usable for further crafting with souls, he could cut his cost of arming and armoring his corp of women. He remembered the armory of the Tomb of Nazarick as he pondered, and a wild grin tore his face open. Oh, the opportunities!

Once he refocused, Akros stopped wasting time thinking cautiously. After seeing 2 out of 3 skill fusions be great successes, he trusted the system with combining skills. Dark Transcendence was still on probation, as he wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was cinematic with how the wings burst from his back and their general appearance, but he couldn't test his new flight currently. He'd look foolish in front of demons gathering to see his trial. 

He completed several fusions in the following minutes while producing more high-quality souls. Shadowflame Implosion, Apathetic Omniscience, and Projectile Beam were all created. Shadowflame Implosion and Projectile Beam each cost 8 high-quality souls, while Apathetic Omniscience cost 12. In the end he spent 1,000 average grade souls. 

"The Conversion Cube is just unreal," Akros said quietly with a pleased smile, fiddling with the relic in his hands. "I didn't spend that many souls creating it, yet it has become a very crucial item to me. I honestly forgot about it ever since my time in the middle Abyss. I created so many high-quality souls back then that I didn't need to pull this baby out for a long time. Heh. 50 some years ago. Hard to believe sometimes."

His face fell as he thought back to his younger days. He didn't spend much time with Lupusregina Beta, but he missed her more than he expected. She was the first woman to fall in love with him, care for him, sleep with him. Although the sex they had was redundant compared to the emotional factor. Akros wanted to hear her voice so badly, but he couldn't leave Asha to see her now. He had a trial to perform. Demons and fallen angels to care for. 

Torn with his head hung low and wringing his claws, Akros forgot about his excitement from skill fusion in the face of his longing. He loved the women he had here, especially Lyra, the closest to his heart. She was the only one like Beta, who didn't care for his power or race, but simply loved him as a man. 

Others like Byleth were interested, but wouldn't love or care for him as dearly thanks to his demon body and power. Anna especially was an example of this. She wasn't a slut, rather she only had sex with him because she didn't want to enter a romantic relationship with a being she deemed incompatible.

After several minutes of silent brooding, Akros finally stood from his throne. He pushed his feelings aside and marched out of the hall. Thousands of demons awaited him outside. Low and middle-rank demons prostrated on the ground while the high-rank demons knelt with their weapons in hand. None of them said a word as they stared at Akros with worship. He entered the center of the city square, surrounded by his elite force and the sea of demons around them. 

While the demons, including those he branded, all felt instinctual respect for Akros the fallen angels felt otherwise. The six of them looked at Akros with varying levels of concern and hope. Iris being the least worried, Lyra being the most. Thanks to her near infinite knowledge granted by the system's archives, she was aware of the peril that awaited her lover above. Yet she failed to convince him to refrain, so she could only watch and have faith in his might.

"Akros..." She outstretched a hand to him as he walked by, making him stop. 

He had his armor on now, so they couldn't see each other's expressions. Apathetic Omniscience gave him a passive sixth sense that acted like a radar. He could see where things were, but without seeing. More importantly, this sense showed everything as black with white outlines, similar to a 3D engine. Living beings and magical relics emitted different colors with varying intensities based on their magic power. Eon, who was the most powerful being besides himself in Vrathe, had a bright red signature that was impossible to miss. 

He turned his head to "look" at Lyra, and read her mood by her voice. He ruffled her hair carefully not to hurt her with his armored palm, then moved on. Because he was surrounded by demons, he could not display much affection. Fortunately the 2 second headpat went unnoticed by the fanatical demons nearby. 

The city square was breathless as he stomped to the center of the area and halted. A black and red hand reached up to the sky while outputting magic power. Purple energy streamed upward like a beacon, piercing the gathering storm clouds that hung low over Vrathe. After the beam rose to a height of 3 miles it met an obstacle. The spatial energy he was sending upward hit the separate space of the skies, Asha's heaven!

Grinning underneath his mask, Akros input more magic power through the circuit. Slowly, golden cracks formed in the sky where the purple beam ended. It was a scene that reminded him of Abyssal Tremor's cinematic effect on the air when it was used. 

Everyone including the newer fallen angels was shocked by his actions. Rather than open a portal to heaven, he was trying to break open the sealed space from what they could tell. Querrlya, being the oldest being present and the most knowledge of Ashan's heaven, was gobsmacked that this demon was actually fracturing the protection of heaven. To her knowledge, only demon lords could break open a sealed space directly with magic power. However this never actually happened and was never proved, as demon lords never had a good reason to aggravate a hornet nest of angels. After all, they had already been there. Why go back only to die?

Akros was at the very peak of his strength as a high-rank demon. His current stats were actually not much lower than that of a weak demon lord who underwent an early promotion. That said, he was on the precipice of demon lord, so he had expected to be able to do this. He also struggled with the complex writings and configurations of magic circles when it came to portals. Morwen did her best to explain it simply, but the concept was simply not his forte. He wasn't a hacker, but a bulldozer. Breaking in forcefully is what he did best.

Pheom and Ulvone stamped their feet as the process continued. The other demons quickly caught on and slammed the ground with their claws, following the rhythm of the two high-rank demons leading it. As the gold fractures in the sky grew and widened, the tempo of the thumping increased. Akros felt as if they were cheering him on, so he kept pouring magic power through the beam. 

Fortunately he had buffs to his magic recovery speed, which allowed him to use this method. He was deploying spatial magic, so his black diamond and magnate ruby did not amplify it at all. Additionally, using brute force to crack open a vast, powerful sealed space like a world's heaven required massive quantities of magic power. Akros was currently burning through his mana faster than it regenerated. 

After a few minutes of booming thuds on the ground and the low hum of Akros' beam of energy, the cracks finally tore open. A jagged fissure opened up in the sky. Bright golden light illuminated Vrathe as the fissure glowed brilliantly. Most of the demons present had to keep their heads down to avoid losing their sight, but the high-rank demons stared up at the bright fissure with awe and hatred. Awe for the display that Akros gave them, hatred for heaven. 

Akros activated Dark Transcendence, causing black energy to erupt from his back. Black demon wings of translucent energy unfurled outward, surprising his followers. They knew he could retract his wings with magic, but what was this magic he was using now? They assumed he replaced his flightless blade wings with magical ones that could actually keep him aloft without the propulsive shadow spell. 

"See to it that I am not interrupted!" Akros roared, addressing all the demons present. He then shot into the air and passed through the fissure in heaven's seal. Thousands of demons roared triumphantly for their leader, and in wrath at the light. 

As Akros drew nearer to the fracture in the sky, he felt his body heating up exponentially. While his armor helped reduce the burning, he could not ignore the feeling of his body slowly melting. He was forced to coat his body with Black Sheen to protect his skin when he passed through the fissure and entered the heaven of Asha. 

It was an indescribably humongous space that gleamed with dazzling gold light. Even the horizon sky was gold and would've been blinding if he used his naked eyes to view it. His mask of black diamond was created in foresight for this trial, to make sure he could use Haki to sense his surroundings without being blinded by light. His new skills, Black Sheen and Apathetic Omniscience, appeared to be compatible with the mask's buff to Haki. He felt no shortage of mana even when using Black Sheen and Dark Transcendence at the same time, which made him feel more comfortable. 

He hovered in front of the fissure with Crafanc at the ready. Hellreaver was not nearly as suitable for longer fights, so he did not equip the blade. With the Imperial Gold zweihander in hand, he felt more confident given its properties. 

Crafanc, Claw of Avarice

+750 ATK

Greed: Absorbs the life force of those it damages. Life force stolen is then transferred to wielder. Uneffective against undead.

Energy Stealer: Absorbs the stamina of those it damages. Stamina stolen is then transferred to wielder. Uneffective against undead.

God Killer: Damage dealt to deities, gods, demigods, and immortal beings is quadrupled. Grants the wearer the ability to slay immortal beings.

Infinite Duress: Increases magic energy recovery speed tenfold. Active when equipped.

Angel Slayer: Deals 50% bonus damage to angels and other heavenly beings. 

Akros knew that with his Imperial Gold chestplate and greaves he still had the God Killer passive, but to have it on the weapon itself made it feel more genuine. If and when he faced the immortal six-winged angels of heaven, he was sure he could fell them with Crafanc. 

Focusing on his sword helped distract him from the uncomfortable feeling plaguing his body. Due to it being exposed to vast amounts of holy light, even with his armor and Black Sheen acting to prevent it from directly touching his skin, his inner darkness swelled violently. It was akin to a chemical reaction. When his body came in contact with the light, the darkness within became to develop and condense. He thought his magic power condensing further was impossible after how much denser it became during his promotion to high-rank, but he was proven wrong. 

Akros was a demon of darker nature than most. Shadow demons were the closest thing to animate darkness, beings of the black void of the Shadow Realm and the descendants of Asmodeus, the first shadow demon. It was due to this nature that his entire body was having reactions to the light, albeit minimally as the exposure was very limited. Over time he could feel his muscles tremble and bones creak as they adapted to the light.

It wasn't much longer than five minutes before the empty corner of heaven he sat in became swarmed with angels from the distance. He wasn't necessarily in an actual corner, but the area he remained was empty without angelic buildings or angels filling it. Below him were pearl white clouds that reminded him of the clouds he stood on at the White City back in the Darksiders world. 

Perhaps the fluffy white tufts below him now were capable of holding him up, but he didn't risk falling through them. He weighed around 4 tons with his armor so it wouldn't logically make sense for clouds to hold his weight anyhow.

Thousands of weak angels closed in on his location, consisting mostly of two-winged angels. Here and there he detected stronger holy mana signatures, which he presumed were four-winged angels leading the two-wings. None of their signatures were anywhere near that of his fallen dominion angels, who were nearing their own peak. Six-winged angels could retract their wings magically, but he could sniff them out with Apathetic Omniscience. Fortunately for him none appeared at this point. 

Laughing maniacally at this wondrous opportunity, Akros put away Crafanc and gathered his magic power to create a massive orb of Dark Restoring. With his black diamond amplifying his dark power, not much effort nor mana was required to create a wrecking ball sized sphere of the restorative magic. 

The incoming angels numbered at around 10,000. As they felt a deep tremor in heaven's stability, they came rushing to investigate what on Asha could make such an impact. The webbing cracks in the barrier seal separating the space from Asha's mortal realm became a point of great concern and anger to the angels. Who dares to break open their realm and invade?

Once they were close enough the angels could see that there was but a single invader, a lone demon clad in dark energy hovering over a small fracture in the barrier seal and with a growing orb of dark energy over his head. The fracture was long, but not very wide. The angels realized quickly that this demon was the culprit of the tremors, as he would be able to narrowly fit through the fissure.

While the younger artificial angels flew at Akros angrily, the older original angels felt their hearts skip a beat. They knew that a lone demon entering heaven forcibly could only mean one thing. To make matters worse, this demon possessed enough power to tear open the barrier seal protecting the heaven of Asha. Knowing this, the angels informed each other with grave expressions that this was a demon lord promotion trial against a demon at the peak of high-rank. They would essentially be fighting a mortal, weaker demon lord.

The thousands of angels surrounded Akros in a dome formation, hovering above or around him cautiously. Seeing him charging some form of magic, they didn't approach carelessly. Instead, they waited to see what he was doing while forming barriers of light by conjoining their magic power. 

Akros let the orb of power loose, and it exploded outwards. A black mist spread for miles around him, wafting through the cracks in the angels' barriers before infesting their ranks. As soon as they breathed it in or touched it, the began to fall. Two-winged angels fell instantly while four-winged angels took a few more seconds. In the span of 15 seconds 10,000 angels fell by Akros' hand. In their confusion, they were still in the air and didn't move. 

What Akros was unaware of was that there was many artificial angels among this army. Their angel cores protected them from depravity infecting them, but Dark Restoring was different. It was a form of healing magic, so it was able to pass through the resistance of the angels' cores and corrupt them. Angel cores protected from only depravity and not any magic carrying it. A fatal flaw in their design they had yet to resolve over millennia.

He positioned the tip of his tail above his head and created a gravitational vacuum by introducing a new center of gravity for the fallen angels. The bladed end of his tail which was covered in magnate ruby acted a magnet for the fallen angels and reeled them in. In the following moments all of the fallen angels had gather around him in massive clump, unable to move. Akros could detect the holy light eroding them as their dark power wasn't enough to resist it, so he didn't waste time.

Production Suction consumed them all in a blink of the eye due to the proximity, and a system panel appeared before his face. Akros took off his helmet, sending it to his inventory. His head was coated with Black Sheen, so his skin didn't burn. Yet he did struggle to see at first. He had to lean in and make the system panel take up his entire view to be able to read it. 

Materials collected: Two-winged fallen angel corpses (9,840), Four-winged fallen angel corpses (230), Magic Particles (Dark), Magic Particles (Holy), Heavenly cloud, Barrier Seal fragments

Potential productions (2): Mass of fallen angel flesh, Mass of magic crystals and alloys

Select two productions to produce

Oh shit! I get to do both...? Oh, it's likely because they can't be incorporated together. Makes sense.

Akros didn't think further and tapped both options simultaneously. The panel disappeared, replaced by a panel showing his inventory. He was confused for a moment, then saw the two newly created items in his inventory. He drew Crafanc from the panel, then closed it with a happy sigh. He never imagined it would be this easy, but he had only been in heaven for ten minutes or so. The darkness inside needed much more time to mature.

A lone two-winged angel of the lowest rank escaped due his cowardice. He stayed back when the other angels circled Akros, and was out of the range of Dark Restoring. Production Suction consumed the spreading mist, so this angel was safe from it. However, he knew Akros would soon notice him. Out of fright and newfound determination to warn the higher ranking angels, he flew as fast as he could. Luck gave way for this angel as Akros was distracted.

The little angel was long gone by the time Akros was done reveling in his success. He had no intention of aggravating the hornet's nest of angels, so he let them come to him. For the next while he hovered silently with Crafanc laying over his shoulder. His wings were pure magic, and they possessed powerful anti-gravity component due to Hover being an ingredient for Dark Transcendence. That meant he didn't need to flap his wings to remain still in the air. 

As he patiently waited for his darkness to grow, the little angel had reached Cloud City, the headquarters of the heaven of Asha. When he returned alone, he was accused of deserting. He told the truth about the fracture in the barrier seal, how a powerful demon had invaded and killed the entire army of angels. The little angel did not mention how the demon managed to make all of the angels fall before killing them, as it would sound ludicrous. 

While he was a coward, this weak original angel was no fool. He had learned from other original angels how artificial angels possessed angel cores. These cores were created to protect angels from depravity, from falling. What the little angel just witnessed had defied that logic. He could barely believe it, how could he expect others to trust his word?

It took some time for word to spread, but the information of a demon attempting to promote to demon lord was quick to alarm the higher-ups in Cloud City. One demon already succeeded behind their backs as the angels allied with the mortal races to resist the demon invasion on the Ashan continent. The angels unanimously agreed that they would not permit another demon to reach demon lord.

Cloud City was a massive city crawling with angels, many of them powerful at that. There were a few dozen throne angels, and tens of thousands of four-winged angels. The council ruling and managing the angel city consisted of the two strongest throne angels, three cherub angels, and one seraph. Querrlya was formerly part of this council, but she was part of Akros' legion now. 

There had been angels who deserted that gruesome battle, similar to the little angel now. They all told the same tale, one of a horrifyingly powerful demon who tempted two throne angels to fall, and somehow managed to make a cherub blood angel fall as well as stabilizing her condition from what the deserters could tell. 

The council of angels knew about Querrlya's fall, and had heard about this monstrous demon. The deserters reported that the demon only had four wings, and did not deploy a true name liberation state, so the council ruled him as a peak high-rank demon. They were preparing for him to come into their territory to attempt promotion.

Out of the council, only the three cherubs and seraph left Cloud City. The throne angel of the council stayed to make sure the other angels did not interfere. Throne angels were deemed insufficient to deal with this demon, as he had battled a blood angel on the level of cherub and won. 

The seraph, Sinclair, was a popular figure among the angels of Cloud City. He was a veteran of the crusade against the faceless of Malassa, and was the oldest angel to inhabit Asha's heaven. He lead Nicolas, Palos, and Ray, the three cherub angels, to kill this demon before he could promote. At their lightning quick speed they found him half a minute away from Cloud City.

"A demon shrouded in darkness...?" Sinclair stopped about a hundred feet from Akros, who had yet to move an inch. "You must be a shadow demon."

"What difference does it make?" Akros said arrogantly in his true voice from his mask. "You cannot stop me. If I were you, I would cut your losses and return to wherever you came. I am not the only demon on the precipice of demon lord in this world."

In stark contrast to his bold words and tone, Akros was covered in cold sweat. He was expecting six-winged angels, but three at the power of Eon and another who he could only assume was a seraph. The difference in mana signature was so large, it was as if Sinclair was of a different specie. 

Even though Akros was capable of slaying immortal entities such as seraphs, he had to battle to accomplish that. There was no telling how powerful this seraph was, besides one thing. Akros felt that this seraph was on par with Samael after he reappeared from his seal. He couldn't help but feel nervous facing up this entity. His black diamond mask translated words from his thoughts in the demon language, speaking directly to the souls of other beings. This also allowed Akros to hide his anxiety, for now.

"Is that so?" Sinclair narrowed his eyes. He pointed his large gold broadsword at Akros, with the cherub angels doing the same with their weapons. Nicolas wielded a longsword, Palos hefted a spear, and Ray held dual curved blades. "If I were you, I would not have attempted the trial so soon after a demon lord emerged. Our security has never been higher."

"Tch!" Akros was intimidated by the larger and more powerful seraph. He gripped Crafanc with vice-like fingers, assuming his battle stance. As he moved he forced his body to enter Super Saiyan, causing an explosive golden aura to encapsulate his form. "Rrrgh! Have at you!"

The angels spoke no more. Instantly they surrounded him from four directions with their blades swinging towards his body. With Apathetic Omniscience activated, Akros could foresee their movements and was able to dodge. He propelled himself up and over their swings, except for Sinclair's.

Seeming to have predicted Akros' movements, he had swung upward with his 16 foot long slab of sharp gold. Akros, even with Super Saiyan active and covered in Black Sheen, did not dare take it directly. He could tell by Sinclair's magic power signature that he was still inferior to the seraph. With this running through his mind at light speed, he positioned Crafanc below him to parry the strike.

All of this happened in less than a second. The cherub angels couldn't keep up with Akros' speed as a Super Saiyan, but Sinclair could. The seraph blasted Akros away with a sweep of holy flame and gave chase while the cherubs tried to catch up to them. 

Akros grit his teeth as he felt the holy flame eat away at his Black Sheen. He fed the barrier mana to keep it alive and threw his upper body backward to narrowly dodge a fiery stab. Sinclair then brought his blade down, aiming to cut into Akros' torso. The demon disappeared with a flash of purple light from his energy wings, reappearing behind Sinclair who was briefly caught unawares. Akros was able to inflict a shallow cut to his arm as he turned around before having to dodge the massive blade again. 

At this point the cherub angels knew they couldn't fight melee with Akros, he was simply too agile for them. They stored their weapons in their separate spaces and began casting magic to support Sinclair. One cast healing magic, another shielding, the last firing holy lightning at Akros. Nicolas who was attempting to heal Sinclair noticed something odd. The cut on his arm refused to close, leaking holy essence from the seraph's ethereal body. 

Sinclair suffered only a meager cut, but felt a slight and sudden decrease to his stamina and life force. He was so stunned by this that Akros almost ran him through, but Palios saved him. Akros was busy enduring his holy lightning, fighting against it by pouring more mana into Black Sheen.

Akros acted as if he was struggling, but in reality he was letting Palios burn his mana. The holy lightning did not do as nearly as much damage to Black Sheen as the holy fire from Sinclair. Additionally, Akros was not drowning with wrath like he usually did as a Super Saiyan. Thanks to Apathetic Omniscience, his mind remained mostly clear. He felt slight anger, but nothing more than what he would feel if he was looked at funny. 

"Your Excellency Sinclair! Please do not lose your focus!" Ray cried in dismay, seeing his idol falter. Sinclair remained wide-eyed and still, but nodded in comprehension. He looked at Akros with newfound horror, but more so his sword.

"It cannot be... Imperial Gold?" Sinclair's voice was barely audible over the sounds of holy lightning. Akros grinned underneath his mask.

"You bet it is. Even your immortal holy soul can be destroyed with this blade," Shrugging off the holy lightning with cast of Solar Flare, he laughed mockingly. "It also has vampiric effects, which I am certain you can figure out."

"Bastard!" Sinclair cursed, hefting his sword. He clashed with Akros once more, but this time there was uncertainty in his swing. The darkness-clad demon repelled Sinclair with brute force, then zipped in front of Nicolas who was still casting healing magic. The cherub angel failed to react to the Super Saiyan in time, and lost possession of his head. 

Normally decapitation would not be anywhere near fatal for a cherub angel. They possessed powerful regeneration abilities in their ethereal bodies, allowing them to receive fatal wounds and survive. Rather, normal wounds. 

Imperial Gold was a fearsome alloy known by all demons, angels, and other species that reached immortality. As it was a metal forged for the sole purpose of slaying deities, the name reached the ears of those it applied to out of fear. Even Samael, when noticing Akros wore Imperial Gold armor, felt a shiver down his spine. Despite the massive disparity of power between himself and Akros at that time, the metal's appearance was a fright to his immortal self. 

Now, because Sinclair was an immortal entity, the Imperial Gold sword was highly effective against him. One shallow cut caused his soul to quiver and his body to freeze, which is why he had halted earlier. Suddenly the fact that Akros was a mere high-rank demon seeking promotion meant nothing. This demon was capable of ending his over a millennia long life, and that scared the seraph greatly. Sinclair took longer to recover from the shove than he should've, giving Akros an opening.

Nicolas was far less powerful as a cherub. He lacked the immortal soul of a seraph, and his immortal body wasn't as mature. One slash to his neck from Crafanc was enough to end his life. Akros greedily took his headless body and soul into his inventory before the other two cherubs could react, doing this all in milliseconds thanks to his power up.

""Nicolas!!"" Ray and Palios screamed, cancelling their spells. They swiftly drew their weapons to take their vengeance for their fallen comrade and flew at Akros. He sensed them approaching either side of him along with Sinclair coming from behind. Thinking fast, Akros deployed the secret function of his mask.

He arched his back and let loose a roar from his mask. The sound emitted was so loud it stopped the angels in their tracks as they were forced to cover their ears. The raw force that destroyed the sound barrier crashed into their bodies, dealing extreme damage from their close proximity to Akros. Ray and Palios vomited buckets of gold blood while Sinclair only coughed up a mouthful. They curled into balls and clenched up to bear the excruciating pain.

The supersonic roar lasted for a mere 6 seconds. While the angels present had powerful healing capabilities, it was only so fast. Palios made the mistake of not accelerating his regeneration with mana, and it cost him his life as Akros bisected him from head to groin. Ray and Sinclair howled in pain and anger as they were forced to watch Akros pocket the deceased angel's corpse as they healed. 

"Damn it! Ray, get out of here! Gather reinforcements from Cloud City!" Sinclair shouted while slamming his broadsword against Crafanc. The screech of metallic grinding rang in Ray's still throbbing ears as he looked at his idol with shock and worry. Yet the cherub angel did not hesitate to flee the battle as Sinclair kept the Super Saiyan occupied. The deaths of Nicolas and Palios were more than enough to make Ray aware of the danger present by the demon.

"Accursed demon! How can this be?!" As a seraph, Sinclair should've been obliterating a pompous high-rank demon like Akros. The Imperial Gold sword was one matter, but the demon's physical capabilities were another. No high-rank demon should be able to match a seraph in swordplay. It defied the logic that had been established in Sinclair's mind over hundreds of years.

"I am..." Akros strained against the furious angel, fueling Dark Transcendence with extra mana to keep him from being flung by Sinclair. "...not your typical demon...! I am also... a Super Saiyan!"

"What?" Sinclair didn't know if Akros was telling the truth or trying to confuse him. "I do not know what a 'Super Saiyan' is, but it matters not! I will purify your soul, and end your murderous streak!"

"Feel free to try!" Akros snarled back. His blood was starting to boil from the battle. Now that he was facing a opponent stronger than himself, his demon and saiyan blood cells were stimulated. Apathetic Omniscience kept him calm mentally, not physically. If his body got excited, it would only be so long before he would lose his mental tranquility. 

As it was, the wrath-inducing property of Super Saiyan was never eliminated, only suppressed. The anger was building up gradually, but was ignored by Akros who was feeling the glee of carnage and progress. His body was tangibly growing as his darkness condensed and his soul strengthened. How could Akros not find joy in this feeling?

He whipped his tail around to dig into Sinclair's side, but the seraph deflected it with his blade. By doing so he made a slight opening for Akros, who slashed downward as fast as he could while retracting his tail. Sinclair leaned back, dodging the majority of the edge but not entirely. Crafanc grazed his chest, earning a grunt from the angel. More of his immortal essence and stamina leaked out from the wound into the golden sword, which then fed that life force and stamina to Akros. 

Akros' own life force skyrocketed due to him slaying two cherub angels with Crafanc. He was so full of energy he could barely contain himself from going berserk. Even though he was in top shape, he realized he was in trouble. If he went berserk now, it may be a while until he calms down thanks to Super Saiyan's side effect. However he could not afford to cancel the skill otherwise Sinclair would decimate him. 

Gritting his teeth in determination, he continued to clash his steel against Sinclair's. The seraph was able to bypass Akros' defensive swordplay and cut into his armor while ripping through Black Sheen. The barrier was not useless as it slowed down the angel's broadsword, but it didn't do much more. The Imperial Gold and Abyss mineral armor suffered many gashes and fractures by Sinclair. Akros had no time to input mana to restore its condition, so he was forced to let it remain broken in spots. This allowed Sinclair to burn his flesh directly after melting away Black Sheen, sending Akros into a frenzy of agony. 

"GUAARGH!!" The pain was unbearable for the shadow demon. Sinclair smiled coldly, taking his suffering as a sign of weakness. He thrust his broadsword toward Akros' sternum, breaking the sound barrier with the speed of his arm. 

Yet, Sinclair was unaware of the turmoil in Akros' mind. The pain inflicted by the holy flame broke the final barrier holding him together. It burned away Akros' life force at a tremendous pace as it dealt damage to his body as well as his soul. While the damage would recover given time, it felt like he was about to die. Fortunately, Akros' life force had reached the required level by this point. The talent ability that had never been used before activated.

Talent Ability 5: Blood Fury

Description: Prolonged exposure to high levels of radiation had permanently affected your Saiyan blood cells. When you lose a certain amount of blood or life force you will enter an enraged state that will prolong until you either die or recuperate your lost life force. Blood Fury will rapidly restore lost stamina and mana at the cost of your mind.

"NNNRRRROOOOOOOUUGGHH!!!" 

The golden aura surrounding his figure burst violently, darkening to become a gory red shade. His stats rose even further, breaking his bodily limits. His body swelled, growing so large that the system autonomously unequipped all of Akros' armor. He was clad in nothing but his elastic pants and boxers underneath as his body became a hulking monstrosity of muscle and bone. 

His eyes were wide open, bulging, and entirely illuminated with red light while lacking any irises or pupils. Two bumps bulged underneath his armpits, exploding outwards painfully. Blood and tissue made way for two additional arms that were just as muscular as the other two, but without the searing of holy fire. 

His mandible split into two separate jaws lined with dark red fangs. Screeching with fury, ailment, and hatred, he was swallowed by the combined effects of Blood Fury and Super Saiyan and he stopped thinking comprehensibly. 

The exoskeleton on Akros' tail grew with the limb, reach a length of 30 feet. Akros was now a 14 feet tall, black mass with a crimson aura. The portions of his body that were crystal-like were no longer a deep purple. Instead they became a glistening blood red shade. His crystalline body parts also became jagged, no longer the smooth gem material it was previously. 

His magical wings morphed from a translucent black to red. Black Sheen no longer coated his whole body. Instead a higher concentration of the reddish black barrier was layered on his four hands and their talons. Rather than move to intercept the gold broadsword aimed for his gut, they lay still at his sides. His upper right hand held Crafanc in vice grip.

"What in the...?!" Sinclair muttered in horror, shock, and fear all at once. His sword shattered upon Akros' impenetrable black skin. The ballistic demon did not wait for the seraph to recover. Instead he grabbed Sinclair's head and arms with three hands while the fourth slashed diagonally across the angel's body, cleaving him in two from shoulder to hip. 

With that sudden transformation that finished at speeds unbelievable to even a seraph, Akros became an entity with a strength stat of over 350,000. His muscles alone were enough to break the holy golden broadsword of Sinclair. With the Imperial Gold sword at his disposal, it was easy to take the angel's life. In doing so, an enormous amount of life force and stamina was reimbursed to Akros. 

Akros' life force was suddenly back to full, cancelling Blood Fury as quickly as it erupted. His body began to shrink and contort back into its normal state, but not much before the process halted. His inner darkness was still growing. With the effect of his Zenkai Boost, the process was accelerated considerably due to the challenging battle with Sinclair. Zenkai Boost registered in a saiyan's body once they healed from their injuries. Thanks to Crafanc's vampiric attribute, this plane was covered and his Zenkai Boost buffed his stats and completed the condensation of his darkness within.

Rather than return to his natural form, his body morphed expansively again. This time he was shrouded in a wide cloud of dark energy, a storm of chaotic shadow. It spread through the heaven's now empty airspace, save for Sinclair's hovering corpse. As his body was entirely ethereal, it held little mass. In his home turf, his body hovered without him having to flap his wings. This applied to this cleanly cut, deceased form. His soul slowly floated out of his body while Akros was hidden within the violent storm. 

The black cloud burst with an explosion of crimson flame. A four-armed figure emerged from the darkness with blood red fire coating areas of his form. He was without wings, seeming to levitate in the heavenly atmosphere. Akros' flesh was no more, replaced by a pitch black fluid that was formed his body. His face was reduced to three glowing, bright red eyes. The third eye was vertically placed in his forehead. Akros' gaping maw opened wide to unleash a bout of deafening, hollow laughter.

"RAAAAHAHAHAHA! I lost control for a moment, but it seems it ended well!" He paused to study his new form, taking in every detail. It felt odd existing as an ethereal being, rather than having flesh. He couldn't feel much except for an overwhelming, surging power. This made him quite gleeful. "This must be what they call "True Name Liberation State". Proof that I am now a demon lord... after 50 long years, I have promoted aga-"

His breath cut off as he felt a familiar sensation, one he hadn't felt in decades. A feeling that made him antsy and cautious. The distress signal of a Shadow Brand. Akros snatched Sinclair's body and soul, then went back to the fracture in the barrier seal of Asha's heaven. He grabbed the edges and tore the fissure open wider to accommodate his now 100 feet tall body. 

One hour earlier...

By Akros' instruction, the guard demons on the city walls of Vrathe were on high alert. The rays of holy light seeping from the fissure above was a massive beacon. 

The Ashan alliance gathered one large force to storm the demon encampment. With a grand number of over 2 million consisting of several races, they wrought death to any demon they encountered. All of the high-rank demon leaders who were invading the lands perished to the hands of this massive alliance army. 

The army was sent shortly after Akros' massacre of a smaller alliance army. With all of the races shaken up by the demons invading, they decided to go all in and put an end to them once and for all. Elder dragons who had lived for millennia and great titans who were equally as ancient and deadly were in the ranks of this force. No demon, not even high-ranks at the peak of their rank, could survive the onslaught. 

In the time Akros spent getting back to Vrathe and preparing for his promotion trial, the alliance army closed in. They had a simple route to follow: Akros' path of destruction. It could be easily traced from the battlefield that made him infamous all the way back to what the alliance leaders assumed would be the demon headquarters. They traveled with haste out of the desire to end the war quickly. With the destruction of so much nature, it made many hearts ache. Only the angels were apathetic towards the landscape, as Asha wasn't their true home like it was for the earthen races.

When Akros broke the barrier keeping Asha's heaven secure and out of touch, the rays of light that shone downward from the sky immediately caught the attention of the angels within the army.

"We must hurry!" A cherub angel, the leader of the angels that were participating in the genocide against demons called out. "A demon must be attempting the promotion trial to ascend to demon lord! We must strike his forces while he is away and occupied!"

Quickening their pace, the alliance army covered the last few miles of burnt forest to reach the outer ring of demon encampments. Because Vrathe had a wide moat of lava, the low-rank demons were forced to construct shelter far from the protection of the city walls. Normal lava would've cooled and formed obsidian many years ago, but this was Enyo's draconic lava. It was a constantly bubbling, seething magma that never decreased in temperature naturally. For 50 years it had remained in the moat dug by Akros' followers, and for 50 years it burned.

The alarm rang within Vrathe as soon as the alliance army was spotted by the guards upon the walls. The demons inside mobilized to prepare for battle. However, the size of the army incoming was simply ridiculous. How could they, a demon city with only 70,000 troops, hold their own against 2 million? 

As the alliance army came closer, Lyra activated the barrier generator she created with her system. She had mentioned to Akros how she would keep the souls she earned in battle to allow her to create things he overlooked. He didn't think of everything, and sometimes that included obvious things.

After seeing the magic barrier in the elf city, Lyra decided it was a good idea to have one in Vrathe. Using the souls of titans and other species, she used the Create function within her system to forge a self-sustaining shield generator that covered the whole city. It fed off of magic particles in the air, but would also utilize any mana poured into it from external sources. The shield ended in the magma, because nothing would able to swim in it to bypass the barrier.  

The low-rank demons were obliterated before they could take a single life from the alliance army. Minutes later the humans, dwarves, and elves began launching boulders and explosive barrels at the city walls with catapults and trebuchets. All of their projectiles were blocked by a magic barrier, much to their irritation. Then the angels, dragons, and titans got involved and began using their own ballistic magic.

With Lyra and the other members of the Shadow Legion giving their mana to the generator, the barrier held against the barrage. However, the consumption of magic power was massive due to the attacks being constant and ever powerful. When given time to recite a long cast and gather magic power, even two-winged angels were capable of damaging the barrier if only slightly. Most of the work was done with dragon breath, titan magic, and the holy power of six-winged angels.

The demons on Vrathe's walls did not cower in fear at the sight of so many opponents. Instead they were quick to fire ballistae and capapults in retaliation, as well as long-ranged ballistic magic from high-rank demons. Ulvone was among them, the only Shadow Legion member who surveyed the city walls. She picked off many enemies with Volien and Mavos, while destroying alliance siege equipment with spikes of stone that broke them from below.

Ulvone could not stop the inevitable collapse of the magic shield. Her brethren and swore friends ran low on mana due to the incessant damage to the barrier. They stopped feeding it mana before they ran dry. Even Eon, whose tank was the largest out of all of them had used 70% of her mana. They held the barrier for around 15 minutes after the barrage began. 

Once the shield broke, the members of the Shadow Legion knew they were in trouble. Akros was still in Asha's heaven, and they were severely outnumbered. They had to stall for time or simply flee to survive. However, they stubbornly stayed to fight. Save for the three recent additions to the legion, all of them were extremely loyal to Akros. If he commanded them to keep enemies off him, they would die to accomplish that goal. Akros had spared or saved all of their lives, so his maidens were willing to give their life for his cause.

Ulvone was the first and last to suffer injury. The shield broke just in time for a 10-ton boulder to crash into her body. At the last moment she sent Mavos and Volien into her separate space to preserve the magical weapons. With a sickening crunch, she was sent soaring into the city square, directly beneath the fissure in the sky. 

She was not dead, but not healthy either. As part of her transformation, Akros gifted her his ultraspeed regeneration. While it was nowhere near his level, it made her much more durable. The impact that should've killed her on the spot failed to do so. Her stamina was already partially drained from firing so many arrows from Volien, so her body did not fully heal. She laid on the ground with broken limbs, while she focused her regeneration on her organs to stay alive. 

It was at this moment that Akros felt the ping from Ulvone's Shadow Brand, informing him that she was in an emergency. The battle had only just began with the barrier falling and the flying troops of the alliance army swooping in to attack the residents of Vrathe. However, it came to a screeching halt as everyone including the Shadow Legion members who were about to leave the magic shield generator to fight, looked straight up. 

The fissure in the barrier seal of Asha's heaven was torn wide by four black ghostly hands. The golden rays of light were blocked by a titanic shadowy figure who leaned down through the now gaping tear in the sky. A black head with no facial features loomed down and scanned the battlefield. Three red eyes glowing with power sent shivers down the spines of all who bore witness. 

The maw of the being, an jagged opening on his face, opened wide to show a dark red light coming from his throat. The energy light up and hummed at a high pitch as it charged, but gradually so over a few minutes. The alliance army came to the assumption that this ethereal monstrosity was Demon Lord Akros who unfortunately for them, succeeded in his promotion trial. The generals had their troops press forward into Vrathe. They hoped he would hold back against his own units, or even cancel his oncoming breath attack. 

Akros knew something they did not. As soon as his appearance made everyone below him freeze, Iris came to Ulvone's rescue. Out of a newfound desire to be on Akros' good side, she hurriedly took the opportunity to please him by saving his injured mistress. She and the other Shadow Legion members fled Vrathe through a portal made by Pheom. 

Pheom had been planning an escape route for years in case anything happened, and Morwen was able to activate the portal quickly due to her talent for spatial magic. It was actually behind Akros' throne, and because of its discreet location the other demons did not notice them leaving. They warped straight back to the Abyss, specifically Pheom's castle. Even if it had a new master now, that was the least of their worries.

Akros felt them leave Asha through the pings sent by the Shadow Brands on their bodies. The moment the Shadow Legion had left, he knew. He was in his right mind after promoting, the effects of Super Saiyan and Blood Fury seemingly gone. Although his magic being red instead of purple confused him, now was not the time. He had one last thing to do before he also left this world. 

In the end, he actually did hesitate to attack the alliance forces that were butchering the demons in Vrathe. Several demons with active demon contracts signed by Akros lived, and he could not kill them himself. He tilted his head to aim for the rear of the alliance army instead of the front lines. The red glow in his gullet became blinding and the hum rang at an unholy pitch.

"Damn! Here it comes! Everyone, deploy any and all shields!" The titan king shouted to those around him in the rear of the massive army. 

Then, contrary to the expectations of all, no blast came. No lazer, breath attack, nor deafening roar assaulted the alliance troops. Instead a gleaming black and red speck the size of a marble fell from Akros' open maw. The glow vanished with the speck and he closed his mouth, watching eagerly. The dot of concentrated magic power descended at a constant speed, almost drifting downwards rather than falling. This gave the alliance army time to wipe out the demons in Vrathe entirely. Over a hundred lambskin scrolls appeared before Akros' eyes before burning to ash, symbolizing the nullifying of the contracts.

While the forward section of the alliance army had yet to notice the glinting marble in the air, the rear was still on guard. While it didn't fall very fast, it was fast enough to make it more worth defending than fleeing. The orb of power covered 50 feet a second, crossing the 3 mile distance from Akros' mouth to the magic barrier set by the angels in 5 minutes. The angels were above the other troops, having the highest flying altitude and being above setting foot on the soil. Naturally their collective magic barrier was the highest in altitude.

The angels as well as the other back line alliance troops watched anxiously. They could barely make out the tiny dot falling, none of them were able to hit it with magic. Putting up shields was their only option left. Five minutes was not ample fleeing time for any organism besides the angels, yet they did not flee out of bravery and the desire to maintain a good relationship with the earthen races. Cowardice would not reflect well on the angels as a faction.

As soon as the fleck touched the holy magic barrier, a flash of red and black light blinded all within a mile. Then, an inescapable gravitational vortex formed where it contacted the barrier. The force was so powerful it broke all of the magic barriers and lifted massive elder titans off their feet. Every organism within 3 miles was collected together, catching many alliance troops who were not knowledgeable of what was happening. 

Along with living things the environment was uprooted. Dirt, stone, shadow stone, and lava was brought into the mosh pit as well. The vortex continued to greedily grasp the environment and alliance troops for the next 30 seconds before stopping. Instantaneously following the vortex ending, a nuclear explosion of blood red flame burst from the gravitational origin point. The fire burnt everything it touched, reducing even the cherub angel general to cinder in a dozen seconds of agonizing cooking.

As soon as it started, the spell was over. A mountain of ash and molten rock collected on the bedrock below. The alliance forces at the front, roughly numbering 1.5 million, froze in horror at the scene. Suddenly doubts plagued their minds. Was this demon crusade really worth the sacrifice? Was it even possible? They could not help but despair as they watched Akros descend from the fissure in the sky. 

With a cast of Production Suction, all of the souls, ash, and magic power in the area of his spell was vacuumed up and stored in the form of a boulder wrought with magic crystals. When souls were collected by Production Suction, they were sent directly to his inventory rather than being used for a production. 

Akros' 100 foot tall form wasn't that large compared to the titans and larger dragons among the alliance army. What terrified them was the magic power oozing from him. It was a suffocating dark power that killed many humans, elves, and dwarves outright. Their organs collapsed from the pressure thus ending their mortal lives. 

"T-this is..." The cherub angel gulped. "...a demon lord?"

"Not shadowflame, nor an implosion. I hope there's an explanation for this, system," Akros boomed, raising one hand. He made a finger gun and used Projectile Beam. The alliance army, who were frozen with terror or waiting for his next move, failed to react to the lightspeed beam attack.  The concentrated beam of shadow magic obliterated all that it touched, whether it be dragon, titan, angel, or humanoid. 

The beam fired and dissipated in a few seconds, giving the alliance troops very little time to react. Akros proceeded to kill all of them with Projectile Beams by firing four at once. He liked having another set of arms so far for this reason. 

Nothing could come close, and soon enough he had reduced the alliance army to smithereens. The only beings that remained where the titan king, the gold dragon queen, and the cherub angel. Everyone else had fled or died. 

"Damn, is it only us?" The cherub angel cursed, gripping his sword tightly with anger and fear. He should've been able to best a newborn demon lord in battle, but Akros destroyed his expectations. He was a monster that the angel general had no clue on how to face.

"It is. I suppose this is where we meet our end," The gold dragon queen said solemnly. The titan king nodded silently. "But we must at least try-"

"Cute."

Akros interrupted their speech with three more Projectile Beams aimed at each of their heads. The gold dragon queen, a massive gold scaled dragon of majesty and might, now bore a molten skull. She collapsed lifelessly, along with the titan king who had suffered the same fate. The cherub angel was an immortal being, and without Imperial Gold, Akros was unable to kill him outright.

While the cherub was regenerating his body, Akros exited his true name liberation state. His body shrank and compacted until he was 14 feet tall and no longer ethereal. He was a little confused by this, as he thought elemental demon lords had ethereal bodies permanently even in their natural state. He shrugged it off, thinking:

This way I can still have sex. Cool with me.

His black skin was wrought with intense, bulging, and sharply defined muscle tissue. He was borderline bulky while leaning towards a more ripped physique. His four arms were long and solid, ending in five crimson metallic claws. His legs were smooth yet rock solid, his calves stretching as he stood on his 3 clawed feet. Unlike before his promotion where his 3 toes pointed forward in a W shape, he only had 2 large talons on the front of his feet. One toe sprouted from his heel, seeming to be a counterbalance for his 30 foot long armored tail. 

Similar to his claws, Akros' tail plating and horns had morphed into a blood red metallic substance. He later recognized this material as blood mercury, the same ore he forged some weapons with. His horns had grown further, the two branches pointing up were now a whole foot long. The main branch continued to curve around the back of his head, the tips nearly touching. Two new branches emerged from the main horns. These new points were sharp curves that faced forward after curling down from his temples, looking akin to tusks. 

His eyes remained a luminescent purple, but the pupils shifted from red to a light teal. Akros' formerly onyx black hair that matched his skin had been replaced by spikes of golden blonde hair. His hair was longer as well, ending in a spiky mullet that reached the bottom of his neck. Akros' horns had grown longer, but slimmed in the process revealing gold eyebrows above his eyes. 

His teeth had become serrated blood mercury points, looking similar to shark teeth. Additionally, he gained another row of teeth. His tongue remained purple while it grew longer and rougher, shining like metal. Upon his back was a third set of wing stubs. He lost the ability to retract his wings, but in turn the roots became small stubs that barely protruded from his shoulderblades. 

Akros activated Dark Transcendence and drew Crafanc from his inventory. To his surprise the blade was now of a more fitting size. It was no longer the oversized zweihander as it was only a foot taller than him now. Six slim fluorescent red demon wings of energy erupted from his wing stubs. With how much power the wings held, the force that came from them emerging made him stumble forward. 

By now the cherub angel had fully regenerated, and noticed that Akros was unfamiliar in his base state. He gripped his sword and charged Akros furiously, swearing to avenge his fallen comrades. The shadow demon watched the angel approach in slow motion, unamused. He could easily predict the future now as Apathetic Omniscience still operated as it did before, if not at a higher efficiency post-promotion. 

Akros flew up to the angel in a millisecond and ran his head through with Crafanc. Before the cherub could register what happened, his life was erased by the primordial magic within the Imperial Gold edge. Akros stored the angel and his soul, then looked around.

The area had become a wasteland. Vrathe had been reduced to rubble, most of it ash from his own magic. The forest area within a couple miles was demolished and flaming in some areas where hellfire ran amok. Akros collected the souls of all of the dead alliance soldiers with Production Suction while flying around. 

Once he stopped collecting souls, he flew lower to collect any remains of dragons. He wasn't interested in titan nor angel corpses, but dragons were powerful and very interesting creatures. He decided to produce a heap of their bones, flesh, and scales with Production Suction to save inventory space. He'd decide what do with it later.

Deeming his work here was done, Akros stopped resisting the repulsive force of the world. It had increased exponentially following his promotion. With no contracts active, he felt that he had mere days left if he wanted to remain in Asha. But that was not his desire. He let the Abyss swallow him, removing his presence from Asha.

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